


Put Our Hands Together, Key Into a Cage

by conversationheart, PrettyLadyBigHair



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Chaptered, F/F, Fluff, Katya is a journalist, Lesbian AU, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Other Queens (RuPaul's Drag Race), POV Trixie Mattel, Romance, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Trixie sings, cis women, implications of bad family home life but not explicitly discussed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:01:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conversationheart/pseuds/conversationheart, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyLadyBigHair/pseuds/PrettyLadyBigHair
Summary: A 5-year West Hollywood resident, Trixie finds herself on a flight home sat next to a candid blonde that has decided to uproot her life and move to Los Angeles in light of a recent break up.In which Trixie and Katya meet on a plane that neither are particularly in the mood to be on, but as conversation flows and natural chemistry reveals itself, the 6 hour journey suddenly doesn't feel long enough.
Relationships: Trixie Mattel/Katya Zamolodchikova
Comments: 61
Kudos: 117





	1. Get Up and Go

**Author's Note:**

> Hello.
> 
> Obligatory mention that this is my first fic.
> 
> Obligatory reminder that this fic is based off of fictional female characters, not the actual people behind Trixie and Katya - their likeness and traits in drag have been used as part of their character development.
> 
> Main writing and plot concept by PrettyLadyBigHair (me)  
> Editing and reworking by conversationheart

1\. Get Up and Go

Trixie rolled over and groaned into her pillow as her alarm blared openly into the dark guest room of Kim’s apartment. She willed the incessant ringing to stop of its own accord and pleaded to a god she didn’t believe in to turn back time, allowing her to rest for a little longer. She desperately wanted to bury her head beneath the covers and drift back off into a deep slumber but, knowing that was not an option, reached out blindly into the dark towards the irritating sound. Finally locating her phone on the otherwise bare bedside table, she stopped the alarm and climbed out of bed, stumbling through to the bathroom. The golden blonde flicked on the light, scrunching her eyes as they adjusted to the harsh fluorescents now flooding the space. Staring into the mirror as she brushed her teeth then her hair, she began to feel more awake, and began psyching herself up to face the day -- and her time constraint. Trixie cursed Kim for suggesting that she didn’t need to set her alarm any earlier, adamant she would have more than enough time, and cursed herself for listening. Trixie should have known better than to take advice on timing from someone who had been late to their high school graduation. 

Grabbing her toiletries from the bathroom, she crossed the hall back into the guest room and deposited them into a clear plastic bag which she placed inside her carry-on luggage. The previous night she had been sure to pack away all of her belongings into the suitcase, leaving out only a comfortable outfit for the day ahead of her. Trixie pulled a simple pink sweatshirt over her head, then untucked her hair from underneath. Her loose curls cascaded down her back and she neatened them, fixing the tangles that had formed while she dressed. She paired the sweatshirt with thick black yoga pants and a comfortable pair of sneakers. Trixie grabbed her luggage and scribbled a thank you note for Kim to receive when she woke up -- no doubt still a few hours from now -- leaving it on the kitchen table before all but sprinting out the front door which locked automatically behind her. Stepping into the cool early morning air of Manhattan in October, she located her Uber, and once inside it set off in the direction of JFK airport.

Trixie Mattel was typically a person who was conscious of being on time; she prided herself on her organisation skills. Yet, on this particular Monday morning, she found herself in the back of an Uber clicking her phone screen on and off repeatedly, hoping that by some miracle, on one of the clicks the clock would suddenly read as being fifteen to twenty minutes earlier than it currently was. She willed time to slow down, or stop all together, and cursed herself for not taking the typical rush-hour gridlock into consideration when setting her alarm the night before.

"I know there's nothing you can do about the traffic and that there are like, driving laws and all but I just really don't want to miss this flight so if you could do everything you can to get to the airport as quickly as possible I would really appreciate it", Trixie blabbed at the Uber driver in the sweetest tone she could manage in her growing panic.

The driver grunted an acknowledgement, clearly irritated at the suggestion that he was doing anything other than exactly what the blonde woman was asking of him. Trixie felt certain she wasn't going to receive a five star rating for this trip. As the traffic started to clear, Trixie encouraged herself to think positively; she wasn't going to miss her flight and even if she did -- which she wouldn’t -- it wasn’t the end of the world. Pulling up to the domestic terminal, Trixie hopped out of the back of the car with her bag in tow, thanking the driver and darting to TSA. 

She removed her clear bag of liquids and electronics from her luggage while waiting in line, conscious of her flight's rapidly approaching departure time, as she neared the front. There, she was further delayed by the man in front of her who had chosen to use his time in line to talk at Trixie about his life instead of unpacking any of the items in his bag that were required to be removed for security, until the last possible minute. Trixie briefly considered this yet another example of why she truly could not stand men, before finally being called forward to an open lane. After clearing TSA, and with her boarding gate memorised, Trixie rushed her way through the terminal, short of breath and flustered as she reached the gate just in time. By the time Trixie boarded the plane, she was in a less-than-sunny disposition and all she wanted was to sit down, rest her head against the window, and sleep until she was back home in LA. Trixie's ticket informed her that she was sitting in seat 5A, having splashed out some extra cash for economy plus, however upon arrival at row 5 she was surprised to find that seat A was already occupied. Conscious of the fact that she was the only person not yet seated, Trixie packed her suitcase in the overhead compartment and sat herself in the aisle seat. 

"Um hi, excuse me?" Trixie directed at the woman sitting in the window seat, staring intently out the window toward the ground. After receiving no acknowledgement, Trixie tapped her shoulder lightly and tried again, this time her tone far more irked. "Hello, excuse me! You're in my seat."

The woman, who had been looking out of the window, startled and turned quickly to face Trixie. Her blonde hair was a few shades lighter than Trixie’s and styled into two french braids that trailed down her back, her bright blue eyes were wide in alarm. "Oh my god, you scared me!” The woman seemed to ease upon discovering Trixie as the perpetrator of the shoulder tap. “So you're the person who booked this seat, I’d been secretly hoping you weren't going to show but here you are!" The thin blonde woman replied to Trixie in an animated fashion.

"Yeah well here I am, and I kind of reserved this seat so if you don't mind swapping," Trixie tried to sound more friendly than she was feeling but she was sure her annoyance was written all over her face.

"Yes! Yeah! You're right. It's just that I haven't ever been on a plane before and I just so happen to be absolutely-fuck-shit-scared and I feel like sitting by the window will give me, I don’t know, some extra reassurance that we’re still in the sky and don't happen to be hurtling towards the ground and certain death,” she rambled, removing her already buckled seat belt. “Oh and that the wing hasn't fallen off or something, or--" the smaller woman continued on chaotically while Trixie ran through her options. Either she stuck to her guns, demanded the seat that was rightfully hers and risked this woman hanging over her to get a view out the window for the whole journey, or just accept that the next six hours would be slightly less comfortable than she had initially anticipated without the headrest that was the side of the plane. Trixie made her choice and extended her hand out to the other woman’s, resting it on top of her slender fingers, on which she had been listing worst case scenarios.

"It's fine, you can keep the seat," Trixie interrupted, and as the other woman began immediately thanking her insistently, Trixie reassured her that “really it’s fine, it’s just a seat”. Trixie settled into her seat and the safety video began playing on the screen in front of her. No stranger to travel, Trixie tuned it out. From the corner of her eye, however, she noticed that the woman beside her was transfixed on the screen and Trixie wondered if her fellow passenger really thought that any information from _Valerie Valentine, your virtual economy plus safety stewardess_ would be of help should the plane go down. Trixie thought that there was something kind of endearing about the way this woman was taking in every word of the outdated safety video, and how she had tightened the re-buckled seatbelt across her slim frame so snuggly that it surely couldn't have been comfortable. The video ended and the woman tapped the fingers of her right hand arrhythmically on the arm rest that separated herself and Trixie as she chewed the nails of her left. A pang of empathy washed through Trixie who, despite her unpleasant mood this morning, was generally a warm and friendly person. Again, she found herself reaching out and resting her hand atop her neighbour’s.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Trixie smiled towards her.

The woman to her left turned towards her, nodding her head before smiling back. She had a perfect Hollywood smile, with the whitest, straightest teeth Trixie had ever recalled seeing, which reached her perfect ocean blue eyes. Annoyance past, Trixie could now acknowledge just how beautiful the woman sat beside her was. She felt herself staring and scrambled for something to say, but the other woman came to her rescue by speaking first. Turning over her hand she took Trixie's in her own and began to shake it up and down. She introduced herself as Katya and Trixie offered her own name back in return. 

"I had no idea how nervous I was gonna be until I stepped onto the plane, and then it was like woah -- it just hit me out of nowhere! I didn't even think to reserve a specific seat and now you've had to swap with me! I'm sorry, we haven't even taken off yet and it's already painfully obvious that I'm probably the worst possible person you could have been sat beside'' Trixie began to wonder if the chaotic rambling nature of Katya's speech was a result of her nerves or just spoke to her general character, deciding perhaps it was the latter; she couldn't deny that she was intrigued by the woman -- Katya -- either way.

"Okay, girl, I'm sorry I was a bit of a bitch about the seat before but it's really not a big deal, honestly," Trixie offered her reassurance to Katya and then, last minute, decided to add, "honestly I'd rather you felt as comfortable as possible.”

"Wow that's very kind of you Tracy" Katya responded genuinely.

"It's Trixie!" She corrected quickly, to which Katya smirked softly in response. "And well yes I am very kind but also the less comfortable you feel the more of a pain you're going to be to sit beside." Trixie deadpanned. "Oh and being in the aisle seat gives me an easier escape from you too so there's that.”

Katya shoved Trixie's arm playfully and declared that she was "horrible and evil and rotted" as she wheeze-laughed, and Trixie felt her heart warm in response to knowing that she was responsible. The plane approached the runway and Katya glanced at Trixie.

"What if the plane just doesn't manage to get off the ground?" Trixie could see Katya becoming more tense again.

"Then I guess we'll just die," Trixie retorted dryly.

Katya nodded her head contemplatively.

"Katya, obviously bad things happen and I can't predict the future but I think the plane is going to take off just fine."

Katya nodded again and Trixie reached into her pocket and pulled out her airpods, offering one to Katya. “When I get scared or stressed music tends to help, it’s a good distraction!” Trixie explained, and Katya popped the airpod in her left ear, Trixie putting the other in her own right ear. She then opened Spotify and selected one of her playlists. Hitting shuffle, music from The Go-Go’s flooded through her single airpod just as the plane began to pick up speed down the runway. Katya grabbed for Trixies hand and closed her eyes, and Trixie rubbed her thumb over the back of Katya's hand to try to help her relax as the plane began to lift off of the ground. The pair sat in silence, aside from the music, as they passed through the clouds, and without even realising that it was happening, Trixie fell into a dreamless sleep.

\--

Trixie was drawn back into a waking state by a gentle shake of her shoulder, Kacey Musgraves' voice in her right ear, and a soft voice saying her name. Lifting her head, she turned towards the voice to find Katya looking at her, and Trixie realised then that she had fallen asleep with her head on Katya's shoulder. The taller blonde was immediately embarrassed, praying that the gorgeous woman beside her wasn't completely weirded out at having become Trixie's new in-flight pillow, or worse yet that she had potentially drooled on her. She sat up quickly, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Her hand came up to cover her face and rub her sleepy eyes, sighing in relief as she subtly touched the corners of her lips and confirmed that she had, in fact, not been drooling. She removed the airpod from her ear, and took the one Katya was handing her, putting them back into the pocket from which they came.

"That's okay! You're actually very cute when you sleep, did you know that?" Trixie was sure her cheeks were scarlet by now and she couldn't imagine that Katya could miss that. "Anyway I woke you up to let you know that we were potentially about to die." Noting Trixie's confusion, Katya clarified, "I felt the plane shake, so there's probably a 75% chance we're about to go down”. 

A smile spread across Trixie’s face.

"Going down, honey, if you wanna know about going down you should see me in the House of Blues bathroom on Friday night," Trixie quipped, and was pleased when Katya broke into a loud laugh at her dumb joke. "What kind of shaking feeling did the plane make? Was it smooth like drifting on top of a wave or was it quick and jittery?" Trixie questioned.

"The second one, the jittery one."

Trixie's calm expression fell and she gasped, grabbing Katya's hand. "Shit," she exclaimed.

"What? What!?" Katya asked, voice raising. "Is that bad!?"

Trixie gazed at Katya with a solemn look and pursed her lips as she slowly nodded her head. When she saw the desperation on Katya's face, however, she finally cracked, just barely stifling her typically ear-piercing laugh. 

"No girl, I'm fucking with you. It’s just turbulence, it happens all the time... don't you think if there was something seriously wrong other people might be freaking out? The cabin crew might stop serving drinks?"

Katya’s mouth fell agape and for just a second, Trixie worried that maybe she had gone too far, but then Katya was smiling at her, again shoving at her playfully. "You are so mean I can't believe you!" Katya exclaimed, laughter bubbling in her throat. “You're right, if we were crashing I think maybe at least one person would be screaming". 

“Besides you.”

“Fuck you!” Katya exclaimed, faux-offense spread across her expression once again. “Okay at least two people would be screaming.”

Before Trixie could respond, the plane hit another patch of turbulence, the pilot switching on the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign. Katya linked her fingers with Trixie's and looked over at her, looking for reassurance that it was okay. Trixie gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand in return, ignoring the blush returning to her cheeks as she decided that what Katya needed was probably a good distraction.

"So why now?" Trixie asked, claiming Katya's attention. "Never flown before, why today? Why Los Angeles?"

Trixie could see Katya’s eyes refocus as she turned to look at Trixie, her demeanor relaxing slightly as she replied. "Oh, um, well I had never really had a reason to fly before. I grew up in Boston and then moved to New York for college. I love to drive so anytime I go back and forth I just take the car," Trixie listened, appreciating the way Katya had taken to opening up to her. "I'd always wanted to go to California and then six months ago I broke up with my ex-girlfriend and finally just decided, ‘fuck it I'm moving to the otherside of the country’. Why not, you know?” 

_Ex-girlfriend._

Trixie looked to the floor momentarily so Katya wouldn’t notice the way she felt herself light up at the realization that Katya wasn’t straight. She nodded, re-establishing eye contact and listening as Katya continued to tell her about her life. “I'm a journalist; I write mostly, but also do some of the photography to accompany my articles. I can easily continue to do those things in LA, and I finally didn't have anything or anyone tying me to New York so again like, why not?" 

The revelation that Katya's ex was a girl replayed in Trixie’s mind, an excited knot forming in her stomach against her better judgement. The woman sat beside her, holding her hand, not only happened to be beautiful but also happened to be into women. She was also looking at Trixie expectantly, having finished speaking her piece and awaiting a response, as per typical conversational structure. Again, Trixie felt herself fighting against the growing pigmentation of her cheeks. 

"I'm sorry about your ex, breakups are the worst. But I'm really happy you’re following your dream and I think you'll love LA. There are always so many things to do and even if you don't feel like doing anything at all, there are also so many places to go to do nothing." Trixie thought of the city she had called home for the past five years fondly.

"Have you always lived in LA?” Katya questioned.

"Oh, no! I'm from Wisconsin, you know the cheese and serial killer capital of America? I moved to LA five years ago when I was nineteen. I really didn't want to get stuck in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere Wisconsin so I saved as much money as I could and then flew to LA to pursue music, which is like a lot harder to make a career out of than I had first thought." 

Trixie remembered moving to LA with the knowledge that very few people ever make it in the music industry, but with the absolute certainty that it would happen for her. Very quickly she realised how naïve she had been. She began working in retail where she worked her way up to an assistant manager position she currently held at a small but elite fashion store, _Girl Next Door_ ; she also tutored guitar some weekday evenings and on Saturday mornings. When she was able to book a spot on a lineup, she would play at open mic nights, which she hoped would eventually progress to booking some kind of paid gig. When she had first gotten hired at _GND_ , she had worked tirelessly, taking every extra shift available, and eventually she had saved enough to record a single which she had proudly saved in her Spotify library. Despite never really having gained any recognition past her own streams and those of her friends, it was something solid she could cling to on the days when her brain would bully her. Trixie knew that she was a talented guitar player, she knew she had a strong voice, and she knew how to put her feelings into writing and pair them with a beautiful melody, but she also knew how to put herself down and tell herself she would never amount to what she dreamed, a learned thought pattern she had grown increasingly equipped to handle over the years, thanking both distance from her hometown and previously held weekly sessions with Sasha.

She told Katya about her single, which the smaller woman seemed genuinely impressed by. They spoke briefly of the recording process and Trixie informed her that she would love to record an entire EP one day, but that it was obviously very expensive so she wanted to be completely confident in the quality of her material before she spent the money on it. Realising how long she’s been continuing on about herself, Trixie tried to recentre the conversation on Katya, listing off places she thought she could get good material for her articles. Feeling brave she added, "you know...if you wanted, I could show you some of my favourite places in LA some time?"

Katya's eyes lit up at Trixie's proposal. "I would really love that, honestly, I don't know anyone out there and it would be nice to have someone to show me around,” her expression then shifting cheekily, “and if that person so happens to be a beautiful woman that yelled at me on a plane for stealing her seat, that is fine by me. Even if she is from killer county cheese land."

Trixie beamed back at Katya, not letting it slip past her that Katya called her beautiful. “Not worried about the killer part?”

“More worried about the cheese, to be honest. I hate -- can I say something controversial? I hate cheese, absolutely hate it, it’s so overrated--”

“Who hates cheese?!” 

“Me, Linda! It’s rotted and wretched and vile and it defiles anything it touches.”

“Well.”

“Well.”

Trixie dramatically tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Well, I guess you can see why I’d like it so much then,” overproduced sensuality suddenly dripping from her voice as she continued, “seeing we have so much in common,” she said, finishing with a comically lude moan before her and Katya burst into a fit of laughter.

Katya squeezed the hand that still held Trixie's as they flailed around animatedly, for a moment forgetting that they were on a full plane thousands of feet in the air. Hearing a man sat diagonal to her clear his throat, Trixie took in her surroundings, all at once noting the calmness in the air existing outside of their bubble. Her laughter halted then and she looked to Katya -- who had also finally stopped laughing, and was now looking back at Trixie -- quickly glancing down at their hands, which remained intertwined.

"Hey Katya," Trixie started.

"Yes, Trixie?"

"The turbulence stopped." 

"Oh yeah, it did."

Neither of them made a move to let go of the other's hand and for a minute they just continued to look at each other. In her mind Trixie pieced together the facts that she had: Katya liked women, she was single, she wanted to see Trixie again after they landed in LA, and she thought Trixie was beautiful. Not to mention every time Katya stroked her thumb over the back of Trixie's hand the taller of the two women felt her stomach do little flips and her heart rate speed up. Trixie Mattel was many things and one of those things just happened to be a massive lesbian who was undoubtedly crushing hard on the woman sat beside her.

"Chicken or vegetarian pasta?" a peppy sounding air hostess inquired suddenly, pulling Trixie from the very gay thoughts that were quickly filling her head.

Trixie selected the vegetarian option and Katya opted for the chicken, and the two sat in mostly silence as they consumed their meal. Every so often one would steal a quick glance over at the other and Trixie felt like a high schooler again, sneaking longing glances at the head cheerleader. As they finished their complimentary airline meals, Katya led them back into conversation.

"You know, we managed to avoid the most awkward part of every first date,” she started, and Trixie cocked an eyebrow at her. “You know, the part where we have to fight over who's going to pay?" Katya teased, winking at Trixie.

"Oh you thought this was a date?” Trixie snorted. “Because it absolutely was not.”

Katya’s face fell suddenly, and she scrambled to save the conversation, "Oh god, I’m sorry I was just kidding I didn’t mean to be--"

"Katya, this was not a date because I refuse to acknowledge that eating dry pasta in a flying sardine can is a date... we can do better than that, surely. But, if you would be interested in going for a real date somewhere on the ground at some point I could maybe potentially be convinced I guess, if you asked nicely."

Trixie could see the relief wash over Katya as a smile toyed at the corner of her lips, and she leaned into the arm rest that acted as their only physical boundary. "Ok Miss Trixie,” she cooed, “would you like to accompany me to an establishment where we give them money in exchange for a food item of our choice and we then proceed to put said food in our mouth holes and then maybe we go for a walk and look at the stars and maybe hold hands?" Katya put her hands together in a begging motion and looked at Trixie with pleading eyes, channeling her inner ‘Puss in Boots’.

"Oh my god, yes okay, if you promise to never say mouth holes ever again you fuckin’ weirdo!" Trixie squealed as she grabbed Katya's arm.

\--

The airhostess cleared their trays away and both women thanked her before returning to their conversation. Time passed so quickly while talking to Katya, and by the end of the flight, Trixie learned that Katya could speak three languages almost fluently, that she had a younger sister as well as an older brother, she hated condiments and loved early morning yoga. She had a way about her that made everything she said sound completely fascinating and when she laughed hard it tended to dissipate into a wheezing sound that she paired with waving her arms around manically in front of herself. All things considered, she might have been the most interesting person Trixie had ever met and Trixie was completely surprised when the pilot announced that they would shortly be beginning their descent into LAX.

"If I am to court you, could I please have the number of your mobile device?" Katya requested, and Trixie rolled her eyes before reading her number out to Katya who in turn gave her own number to Trixie. 

"Hey, can we listen to music again as we’re landing ‘cause that really helped me during take off, especially when you abandoned me in favour of sleep roughly five minutes after the wheels left the tarmac," Katya requested

"Yes of course let me just grab my airpods again! Also shut up," she rolled her eyes at the last part of Katya’s sentence as she reached into her pocket for her airpods. She noticed Katya was still looking at her sheepishly. "What?" Trixie asked with a gentle laugh.

“Well okay so I was wondering, earlier you mentioned that you had recorded a single… do you have it available to listen to on your phone? Can I hear it? It’s totally okay if you don't want to share it with me of course!” 

"Oh, um," Trixie wasn't usually shy about sharing her music, but in this moment she felt a nervous energy building inside her, "yeah sure, of course, take this and I'll put it on" handing Katya one of the airpods.

Scrolling to her saved music library she quickly found her song that she had so proudly recorded a little over a year ago. She selected the title Make Up Your Mind and her own music started spilling from the airpods into both women's ears. Trixie had written this song when she was twenty two years old; finally free of the confines of her homophobic small town and parents, she allowed herself to live authentically. By twenty she had met her first girlfriend Jaida and quickly fell into what she had thought at the time was head over heels in love. The relationship had ended after a year, although they continued to see each other on and off for another six months or so after calling it quits when Jaida hadn't been able to commit. Constantly leaving Trixie confused about where they stood with one another, Jaida left her with a broken heart, but also an abundance of new songwriting material. Years later, Trixie was able to acknowledge that the relationship hadn't been everything she had built it up to be, and listening to the songs inspired by that breakup no longer hurt her. The song drew to a conclusion and Trixie paused Spotify, looking anxiously over at Katya.

"You're like -- god Trixie you're really talented you know that right?" Bashfully Trixie replied with a thank you, Katya's compliment warming her heart.

"Anyway, we're landing so I'll put something else on to distract you," Trixie felt Katya watching her as she scrolled through her Spotify and returned to her previous playlist, hitting shuffle and being greeted with one of her favourite songs by The Chicks.

"Do you mind?" Katya lifted her open palm towards Trixie, seeking out the physical comfort of her and they stayed like that until they felt wheels on tarmac once again.

The plane touched down with both girls sitting hand in hand. With her free hand, Trixie stored away her airpods. She so badly wanted to keep a hold of this woman's hand, briefly considering lying to Katya that disembarking the aircraft was a terrifying and dangerous ordeal just to keep the other woman close. Equally she was aware of the fact they had known each other for just a short six hours and typically one doesn't hold hands with someone they've just met while attempting to navigate the crowded aisles exiting the plane. Their hands detached as the fasten seatbelt sign turned off, and both women rose from their seats to collect their luggage from the overhead compartment. They exited the aircraft as Katya talked excitedly about surviving her first airborne experience, Trixie hanging onto every word as if it was the most interesting and important thing she had ever heard. 

\--

Katya had checked baggage to collect and Trixie did not. She offered to wait with Katya, informing her that her friend, Shea, would happily give Katya a lift to her new apartment, saving her from paying for an Uber. Katya, ever scared of inconveniencing others, thanked Trixie but declined the offer. Trixie tried to reason with her, but when Shea phoned her and asked Trixie to come out to the pick up point, there was still no sign of Katya's suitcase. She settled on making Katya promise to text her later, letting her know she’d arrived safely at her new apartment. Katya waved her phone at Trixie and promised, and with that Trixie turned from the shorter woman and walked towards the exit, liking to think that Katya was watching.


	2. Hey Good Lookin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hi! We have returned -- this chapter definitely took longer to upload than we had planned for, but it's also definitely lengthier than the first so we hope you find the time gap was worth it. 
> 
> Moving forward we hope to upload every second Wednesday, so like not this upcoming one, but the next, and so-forth. If we miss these dates you're welcome to yell at us, but also yelling is mean, and I will cry, so please don't.
> 
> Anyway, here goes chapter 2 with the plane janes -- let us know what you think!

Hopping into the passenger seat of Shea’s car, Trixie secured her seatbelt and the pair drove off. Shea asked Trixie about her weekend in New York and Trixie spoke excitedly about the trip, about how she and Kim had spent a day cycling in Central Park, visiting the Alice in Wonderland statue Trixie had always heard about, and how it had been a bit creepy up close but photographed really well. She told Shea about the speakeasy and the rooftop bar they had visited, and about how on their last afternoon Trixie and Kim had gotten rush tickets to see _Waitress_ , gushing to Shea about how wonderful the lead actress’s voice was, and how cute the costumes looked on everyone. A designer herself, this captured Shea’s attention, and they continued on about the garments, opening into a bigger discussion on storytelling through costume which lasted a while before the conversation finally circled back to Trixie’s journey.

“--well I’m glad your country ass got to go back to New York, finally! You’d been talking about wanting to visit Kim again for literally forever.”

“I know! It was so fun, Shea, we need to go together sometime.” Trixie was beaming, rapidly looking between Shea and her phone as she scrolled her camera roll, reliving the events of the weekend, her crooked smile on full display.

“We should!” Shea nodded. “How was the flight back?”

Trixie’s entire demeanor shifted then, heat rising to her cheeks as she shifted in her seat slightly. “It was good!” Trixie considered her answer, feeling suddenly shy. Part of her wanted to tell Shea all about the woman she’d met on the plane, but part of her wanted Katya to remain her own little secret for now. She decided to focus back on her camera roll again, looking for photos she took that could serve as topic changes. 

Shea glanced at her, and seeing the fluster radiating from Trixie’s face, cocked an eyebrow at her. Trixie returned the glance, trying to portray a sense of nonchalance, while knowing her energy was anything but.

“Trixie Mattel, what aren’t you telling me?” Shea questioned knowingly.

“Nothing! It was a flight, we started on the ground in New York then we were in the sky and then we were back on the ground in LA… you know how flights work right?” Trixie deflected, her stubbornness kicking in.

“Okay girl,” Shea replied unconvinced.

The pair sat in silence for a brief moment before Trixie cracked. “Ugh, okay so -- it might sound stupid which is why I wasn’t gonna say anything and its not a big deal obviously but I sorta met someone on my flight?”

“Excuse me?”

“I know -- so, the woman in the seat beside me was nervous about flying for the first time so I spoke to her and she was nice, she just moved to LA so I said I’d show her around some time,” Trixie tried to sound blasé, but truthfully felt giddy thinking about getting to see Katya again, considering how soon would be too soon to text her.

Shea smirked, obviously reading between the lines. “The way you’re blushing tells me that you’re talking shit when you say it’s not a big deal.”

“Shut up!” was all Trixie managed to retort, knowing it was useless to argue with Shea, one of the few people in Trixie’s life who had been known to out-wit her on multiple occasions, not needing this to be one of those times.

“So… was she pretty?” Shea prodded. 

“Shea!” Trixie slapped her friend's arm playfully and paused for a few seconds before affirming, “she was so hot I felt like I was going to piss my pants”.

“You’re really gross sometimes, Trixie, did you know that?”

They moved the conversation along and at times sat in comfortable silence enjoying the music that played from the car radio. The LA traffic ensured that the drive from LAX to Trixie’s West Hollywood apartment took at least double the time it should have, but eventually Trixie was thanking Shea for the ride, climbing out of the passenger side and making her way towards her building as Shea drove off to her own place not too far away. 

Trixie was glad to be back in her own space again; she loved her home very much and although it was fairly small, every inch of the space felt very _her._ She had a collection of framed Dolly Parton vinyls and vintage Barbie artworks she had accrued on eBay over the years decorating her dusty pink walls, and mounted guitars acted as statement pieces in corners of the living space. She removed her sneakers and placed them in the shoe rack behind the door, flexed her toes against the wooden floor, and finally felt at peace. 

Trixie’s afternoon was spent unpacking the unnecessary amount of clothing and makeup she had tetris packed into the luggage she had taken on her weekend trip, tossing her worn garments in the laundry bin, and organizing her belongings, returning them to their designated homes within her room. After she unpacked, she checked her phone to find that Katya still hadn’t texted her. She briefly considered texting first just to check that she was okay, but then reasoned that there was a chance Katya was still en route to her apartment, and didn’t want to come off eager. 

Trixie unlocked her phone and swiped down from the top of her screen to find the search function, feeling slightly read when the app she was looking for was her top siri suggestion, and opened the postmates app to order a veggie burrito and soda from her favourite takeout place. As she awaited her food's arrival, she changed into an oversized t-shirt and pajama shorts and took up residency on her couch, flipping through the TV channels and settling on _Dance Moms_. Her intercom buzzed and she ran down the stairs in her slippers to receive her food, which she ate after sitting back on the couch. As she tucked into the burrito, her phone dinged with a new message,

_Katya:_

_Trixie! It’s Katya -- I’m sorry it took so long for me to text, my phone died and then I was unpacking but hello I made it to my apartment without getting axe murdered!_

Trixie couldn’t help that her face lit up instantly as she read the message. She considered waiting a few minutes before responding, then remembered she wasn’t in high school anymore. Rolling her eyes at herself, she retrieved the phone she had tossed across the couch seconds prior, typing out her response.

_Trixie:_

_You dodged every axe trap I set out? Damn. Gotta try harder next time._

She put the phone down, then picked it up again moments later, adding,

_Trixie:_

_But for real, I’m glad you made it to your place okay._

The response was almost immediate.

_Katya:_

_Yep, every single one. And thanks!! I considered walking to get that true moved-across-the-country-by-myself making-my-way-downtown-walking-fast fantasy but I ended up Ubering._

_Trixie:_

_Ubering is the LA fantasy. So you’re officially a California Gurl now! I hope you packed your daisy dukes._

_Katya:_

_No daisy dukes, but I’ve got a bikini top to wear on top? (that’s how the song goes right??)_

Trixie smiled, discarding her burrito onto the table and laying on her side, head resting against the arm of the couch. Trixie wanted to keep talking to Katya, but to reduce risk of being perceived as clingy right from the bat, having literally spent 6 hours talking to this woman today already, decided it best to keep the convo short and sweet.

_Trixie:_

_Yes! Well, I hope you like it here, and that your evening is nice and relaxing after your traumatic adventure in the sky today._

_Katya:_

_Thanks!!_

The three dots indicating that Katya was typing appeared at the bottom of Trixie’s phone screen, then disappeared moments later.

Trixie put her phone down, stealing a few bites of her burrito and readjusting on the couch before her phone finally buzzed again.

_Katya:_

_What if I told you I wasn’t actually that scared and just needed an excuse to steal your seat and hold your hand?_

Trixie felt herself blush.

_Trixie:_

_I’d say you’re full of shit. You were sweating so much the plane had to take off before the runway became a moat._

Trixie laughed at her own joke, continuing while she giggled to herself in the darkening living room.

_Trixie:_

_Like, that wasn’t actually turbulence we experienced, it was just your bones shaking._

_Katya:_

_Ummm excuse me wow, so you’re a bully?_

Trixie was in the middle of replying to Katya that yes, correct, she was a bully, when another text came in.

_Katya:_

_Honestly though, to be candid for just a second, for real, thank you. Like, you easily could’ve told me to fuck off and to get the hell out of your seat and had me deal with my irrational shit on my own, but you really helped me. And I got to listen to a pretty girl sing a beautiful song and distract myself from the hellscape of my relentlessly raving cerebrum, which was much preferable._

Trixie’s lingering smile widened at the message, and she debated between responses, considered between a dismissive remark, or sincerely letting Katya know how happy she had also been that she had gotten paired with her -- instead of the man in line who wouldn’t stop talking to her about his multiple Pomeranians and his dead parents, for example. She decided on the former.

_Trixie:_

_You think I’m pretty? Sounds kinda gay._

_Katya:_

_Oh I was talking about Kacey Musgraves -- but you’re okay too_

_Katya:_

_;)_

Trixie’s legs shifted slightly, her cheeks flaring for the umpteenth time that day.

_Trixie:_

_Oh wow, I actually hate you._

_Trixie:_

_Also, you’re welcome. I felt like it was about time I did some charity work, so._

_Trixie:_

_;)_

Trixie watched her phone screen for a few minutes, but when there was no indication that Katya was about to reply she turned back to the tv, her eyes heavy and her brain now struggling to keep up with the trashy reality program playing on-screen, thoughts of Katya’s hand in hers playing in her mind against her better judgement. 

Eventually, Trixie clicked the TV off and rose from the couch, taking the trash from her takeout food through to her kitchen to toss out, then crossing her apartment to the bedroom, grabbing her towel and robe, and circling to the washroom. Once inside, she turned on the shower and the room quickly began to fill with steam as she brushed through her hair and removed her pyjamas. Trixie stepped under the hot water and recoiled at first as the scalding stream made contact with her skin, though she quickly adjusted to the heat, and soon engulfed her whole body under the running water. Once her hair was thoroughly wet, she reached for her favourite shampoo and began working it into the roots of her hair, massaging it into her scalp and then rinsing it through before repeating the process a second time. She applied a generous amount of conditioner to the ends of her hair, which she left in as she cleaned her body. 

Trixie found her mind wandering to the woman from the flight; as she ran her hands over her body, she recalled the feeling of Katya’s hands in her own: how they had felt soft in Trixie’s yet held onto her firmly. Trailing soap over her skin now, she imagined those hands replacing her own, gripping at her curves, and grazing across her skin. One hand against the shower wall to stabilize herself, Trixie let the water run as the other found its way between her legs.

  
  


When Trixie finally stepped out of the shower and back into her room, she climbed between her cool crisp sheets, her hair damp against the pillow and opened her phone to another new message.

_Katya:_

_Thank you for choosing to focus your charity work on me rather than endangered animals or hungry children._

Trixie smiled, then blushed as she considered the woman who was texting her, completely unaware of the thoughts Trixie has just been having about her, and what she had been doing as she had those thoughts. Recalling their previous conversation, she responded.

_Trixie:_

_Listen, animals are cute, but I know a true cause in need when I see one. Also, fuck them kids._

_Katya:_

_You are truly an inspiration Trixie Mattel. A nobel peace prize winner._

_Trixie:_

_Thank you so much, I try._

_Katya:_

_It shows._

_Katya:_

_Whatcha doing?_

Trixie was slightly embarrassed to admit to Katya that she was already in bed at the slightly pathetic time of 8:30pm, but she figured why lie? 

_Trixie:_

_I’m actually in bed. I'm so tired! Had a busy day caring for the elderly today._

_Katya:_

_Wow, you’re such a martyr._

_Trixie:_

_Right? I’m just like, a really nice person with a lot to offer, I guess._

_Katya:_

_And you’re so humble, too._

_Trixie:_

_I know, ugh._

_Trixie:_

_But anyway I should go or I’m going to fall asleep and drop my phone on my face._

_Katya:_

_Okay, get some sleep, Tracy -- you deserve it. Sweet dreams! Think of me!_

_Trixie:_

_I was thinking of you, remember? The elderly? I just mentioned._

_Katya:_

_Again, this incessant bullying!_

_Trixie:_

_Goodnight Katya :) Xx_

The second she had hit send, she regretted adding the two x’s, stewing until she decided that there was nothing she could do about it now anyway. She turned her phone onto ‘do not disturb’ and rolled over onto her side, quickly drifting off into dreams about the clouds and a pretty blonde with french braids.

\--

The following week was extremely busy for Trixie. Brianna, one of Trixie’s colleagues, called off sick on Tuesday and Trixie, feeling guilty at the prospect of leaving _GND_ short staffed, picked up Brianna’s afternoon shift after her own morning one. On Wednesday she had two guitar students after work, having rescheduled them from the previous Saturday when she had been out of town. Brianna was still sick by Thursday and Trixie found herself volunteering to pick up her coworkers shift once again, never able to say no. 

By Friday, Trixie was exhausted. She could feel her patience was at a record low with her guitar student that evening and she fought hard the entire lesson to keep her inner bitch caged, which became an incredibly difficult task when she found he hadn’t done any of the homework she had assigned him at the end of his last lesson. Trixie couldn’t understand people who didn’t work hard to achieve their goals, she had always been a hard worker and found it particularly frustrating to see people not matching her effort levels. Logically, she knew this lack of commitment to his lessons was only going to hinder his progress and that regardless she would still be paid but she couldn’t help feeling irritated as she reviewed the same chords they had focused on last week.

When The Slacker finally left, she shut her front door behind him and all at once felt the weight that all of her commitments and responsibilities had been piling on her shoulders throughout the week. She felt tense, overworked and moody. Having taken on too much once again, she now found herself suffering, and was quick to catch herself before she spun into an exhaustion-driven panic. Trixie padded over to her phone that sat charging on her couch and opened Spotify to her playlist of comfort songs. She hit shuffle, the soft melody of ‘Coat of Many Colours’ filling her apartment through her Bluetooth speaker as she focused on regulating her breathing. 

On nights like this, Trixie reminded herself of how thankful she was for her years with Sasha, the therapist from whom Trixie had learned an array of coping mechanisms she could utilize when life was overwhelming. Though Trixie had stopped attending sessions, now feeling predominantly equipped to deal with the stresses of day to day life, she recognized how they had been endlessly helpful when she originally moved down to LA, having been made reminded time and time again by her roommate at the time that no, launching into all-consuming panics that made her heart race and her eyes blur more evenings than not wasn’t “just a thing”.

Tonight, Trixie recognized that what she needed was to relax, be present, and check in on herself. She moved her speaker, now expelling Brandi Carlisle’s voice, and rested it atop her bathroom cabinet. She retrieved the candles from inside the cabinet, lighting them with a nearby lighter, and dimming the light as she ran herself a bath, filling the water as high as was possible without causing a flood.

Stepping into the scorching water, Trixie stood for a minute as her skin adjusted to the heat before sinking into the deep bath. Steam rose off of the water, smelling of the lavender bath oils she had poured in, and Trixie instantly felt the tension leave her body as she lay her head back against the side of the tub, her hair on top of her head in a messy bun and water softly lapping up into the hairs at the nape of her neck.

Once she had rested for a while, Trixie sat forward and dried her hands on the towel beside the bath, reaching to the sink where her phone sat, and opened the numerous messages that she hadn’t felt up to answering during the week. There were updates from Kim about Gossip Girl, apparently her friend had started rewatching the show for the millionth time since they had first watched it together in high school although Trixie wasn’t sure why because each time her friend rewatched it she seemed to like the show less and less; Bob had sent a stupid meme of Ellen Degeneres and then some information about an upcoming open mic night at one of their favourite bars; Shea had asked if there had been any progress with Katya. She replied a quick anecdote to Kim about how Blair and Serena should have ditched the boys, fallen in love with each other, and ran off to the Hamptons, she thanked Bob for the info about the open mic night putting it in her calendar and then told Shea to mind her own business. 

Trixie and Katya had messaged a few times during the week but it never progressed into an actual conversation, which Trixie knew was entirely her own fault. She briefly worried that Katya might have forgotten about or simply grown bored of her before pushing that thought to the back of her head and opening their conversation.

_Trixie:_

_Hey! Sorry I've been kind of MIA this week. It's been crazy busy at work but I have the next two days off, thank god. How’s your week been? Are you feeling more settled?_

Before Trixie could close the conversation three dots appeared, informing her that Katya was already replying.

_Katya:_

_Hello, hi! You’ve returned from war! I’m glad you have this weekend off, sounds like you need it! My week was fine, I’m all moved in and I scored myself and interview with a queer women’s magazine that sounds very fun and hip and cool on Monday next week_

_Trixie:_

_Omg Katya! That’s incredible!_

_Trixie:_

_We should do something to celebrate!_

_Katya:_

_We can’t celebrate yet Tallulah we don’t know if I'm even going to get the job! I’m kind of nervous, it's been so long since my last job interview_

_Trixie:_

_I mean, we can celebrate the fact you put yourself out there and got an interview literally within a week of getting here -- which is actually crazy especially in LA?_

_Katya:_

_Thanks Trix! I guess they dug my portfolio? We’ll see._

_Trixie:_

_Yeah! Seriously Katya that’s great. You must be good at what you do._

_Katya:_

_So I’ve been told._

_Katya:_

_Oh and I’m also a good journalist_

_Katya:_

_;)_

_Trixie:_

_Oh my god, you’re disgusting._

_Katya:_

_Takes one to know one._

_Katya:_

_But circling back, if you want to do something this weekend, I’m down. I was promised you’d be showing me around left and right but all you’ve left me is on read_

_Trixie:_

_WOW_

_Katya:_

_Kidding -- I’m sorry you’ve had a stressful week, Tallahassee. What do you want to do?_

_Trixie:_

_Umm, do you wanna just be ready by like 11 and I’ll think about it tonight and text you the details in the morning? My brain isnt working right now. I need to get out of the bath before I end up accidentally drowning myself tbh_

_Katya:_

_Trixie are you texting me from the bath? To my christian phone?_

Trixie paused, looking down at herself. She considered her body momentarily, the way her exaggerated curves dipped and the water hugged her frame, and wondered if Katya was considering it, too. She typed and deleted multiple messages with varying levels of suggestive connotation before settling on something tame, not wanting to risk making it weird before they had even hung out on solid ground once. 

_Trixie:_

_Yeah, baths are things people take when they want to be clean, you should probably check them out sometime._

_Katya:_

_Oh I think I’ve heard about them before?_

Katya was already typing again.

_Katya:_

_Sadly my apartment doesn't have a bath though so I guess I’ll need to learn about them somewhere else? if you ever have any suggestions. I’m a visual learner, btw._

“Shit” Trixie said out loud, pressing her thighs together at the thought of seeing Katya in her bath, and Katya thinking about seeing her in the bath. She felt a warmth start to build inside her that she knew couldn’t be credited to the temperature of the water, but fought against it.

_Trixie:_

_Hmmm yeah that's quite the pickle, we’ll need to work something out for you then._

The water was becoming tepid so she rose to her feet and stepped out onto her fluffy bath mat, draining the water and wrapping her body in her soft pink towel. Reaching into her cabinet she selected the lavender moisturiser and worked it into her skin, in the process noticing the polish on her toenails was becoming chipped and making a mental note to repaint them later. Trixie exited the bathroom and made her way into her bedroom, selected some cosy pyjamas and fluffy socks that she quickly changed into, grabbed her nail polish remover and a baby pink polish, and made her way through to the living room, placing them onto her end table. Trixie continued to her kitchen where she reheated leftover vegetable lasagna, and then returned back to the living room. She ate her meal on the couch with Cruel Intentions playing on the TV and once she was finished she discarded the plate on the end table and proceeded to repaint her toenails, deciding she might as well repaint her fingernails while she was at it. As they were drying, she could see her phone screen light up with new messages, but they would have to wait until she was certain the polish had set. 

Once she was confident her nails were safe from being smudged, Trixie picked up her phone to find that Katya had sent a message telling her that she was excited for whatever the pair were going to be doing tomorrow, accompanied by a selfie of her giving an exaggerated toothy smile and a thumbs-up. Trixie giggled at the absurdity of the text, and double-tapped it to heart-react -- she felt strongly that the thumbs up react was reserved for passive-aggressive purposes, the laugh react for condescending ones. 

Katya’s message reminded her that she was meant to be coming up with an itinerary for tomorrow. She wasn’t sure how much of the day Katya would want to spend with her, but she brain-stormed a few ideas before retiring to bed for the night. 

\--

_Katya:_

_Hey Miss Trixie M., may I ask if there’s a dress code for today's activity please?_

_Trixie:_

_No dress code, but the weather app says it’s going to be in the high 70s today so like leave your fur coat at home._

_Katya:_

_Damn, I had planned a whole fur hat, scarf and mittens ensemble, let me go change!_

_Katya:_

_I’m looking forward to whatever you have in store for us!_

_Trixie:_

_The fur coat comment was a test and you failed, I’m a vegetarian and I will not degrade myself to spend time with someone who wears animal fur. Hope you manage to find someone else to show you around and it was nice knowing you xoxo_

_Katya:_

_Of course you’re a vegetarian you fuckin’ lesbian. I’ll see you soon_

Trixie smirked at the phone and then sat at her makeup mirror, excited to get ready for their day.

Trixie had loved makeup for as long as she could remember; giving one another makeovers had been one of her and Kim’s favourite activities back in highschool. At Kim’s house, they would experiment with fun colours and shapes, challenging one another to see who could create the most imaginative look. It was always an exciting experience for Trixie, who hadn’t been allowed to wear makeup in her own household, her stepfather claiming it made her look “cheap and easy”. She had, of course, always disagreed about her parents’ perceptions of makeup, but knew better than to argue with them. Thus, the girls were always careful to remove all evidence of their cosmetics application before Trixie returned home. 

These days Trixie owned more makeup than one woman could ever really need, and as an adult, she found herself increasingly fascinated with glitters, crediting her obsession to her lack of experience with it in her younger life. Glitter had been the one thing not even Kim let her use when they were kids, following one incident in middle school where Trixie had decided to throw caution to the wind and apply some to her lids before heading home, and the repercussions had ended up outweighing the benefits.

Trixie not only loved the final product when it came to makeup but loved the whole experience of putting it on; she enjoyed taking her time applying each product meticulously, foundation and concealer first followed by contour. Trixie couldn’t understand why any person would ever leave the house without wearing blush and added a warm pink to the apples of her cheeks, admiring her reflection and the way the coloured powder never failed to add extra life to her expression. She applied black eyeliner to her upper lid artfully, making her eyes look bigger and then applied mascara to her thick lashes. The look was completed with a pink liquid lip that dried with a matte finish. Trixie’s long, golden blonde hair naturally fell into loose curls which she liked to fluff up and add volume to with some product. Turning from the vanity she approached her closet and selected a matching pink denim skirt and crop jacket, a little lesbian flag pin adorned on the pocket at her chest. From her drawer she picked out a white t-shirt which she would then tuck into the skirt, and once donning the garments, leaving the jacket unbuttoned, she completed the outfit with a pair of white ankle boots. She looked at herself from all angles in her full-length mirror, then blew herself a kiss, grabbing her keys and purse, and heading out the door. Trixie entered the address that Katya had provided her with into the Uber app, and then texted Katya to inform her she would be at her place in fifteen minutes. 

Almost exactly fifteen minutes later on the dot -- a relief to Trixie who hated being late more than anything --, she buzzed up to Katya’s apartment, an excited voice from the intercom telling her, “Tracy oh my god hello come up!” 

Climbing the final flight of stairs she arrived on the landing of the third floor and found Katya waiting for her in her open door frame. The shorter blonde was wearing a loose black dress with combat boots, an assortment of bracelets and earrings that resembled realistic eyeballs. Her naturally high cheekbones were highlighted further by her makeup and her soft smokey eye brought out the blue in her eyes, her red lipstick making her teeth look even whiter than Trixie had remembered them. Trixie broke into a smile as she greeted Katya and once they were standing in front of each other Katya pulled the taller woman into a tight hug. Trixie had her arms wrapped around the other woman’s middle while Katya had her arms wound around the back of Trixie’s neck and Trixie noted that Katya’s shampoo smelled of coconut and her hair was so soft as it tumbled down her back in gentle waves. 

“Wanna see my humble abode?” Katya asked as she stepped out of the hug.

Trixie would have never guessed that Katya had only been living here for a little under a week. The place looked incredibly homely and from the little she knew about the other woman, the space seemed to be very Katya. Abstract photographs of people, places and objects hung in frames on the walls, and remembering that Katya had told her photography was both a part of her job and also a hobby Trixie wondered if Katya had taken these pictures herself. Shelves decorated with random knick-knacks and ornaments, the place was verging on looking cluttered but managed to look intentional and tastefully laid out instead. The apartment had a small kitchen, living area, bedroom and bathroom; it was relatively small but avoided reading as claustrophobic, and the tour didn’t take very long. Trixie had tried to turn her brain off when seeing Katya’s bedroom for the first time. Attempting not to focus on the bed and instead on the line art of a woman’s silhouette which hung above it, Trixie drove her invasive thoughts about Katya out of her mind and paid no mind to the way Katya’s gaze lingered on her a second too long when they made momentary eye contact in the doorframe.

After the apartment tour, the pair walked side by side towards a local parlour entitled _Sprinkle of Love_ , Trixie deciding last minute that the home of her favourite milkshake would be perfect; they could walk there from Katya’s, and the desserts were incredibly elaborate and aesthetically pleasing. 

It was a pleasant walk and the two fell into an easy rhythm of conversation along the way, discussing the differences Katya had already noticed between living on the west coast compared to the east. 

Arriving at the milkshake shop, they selected a seat outside, enjoying the warm day, and Trixie went inside to grab a menu and a glass of water for each of them. When she returned to the table, she found Katya taking various videos of the front of the shop, a pigeon, the sky and then eventually Trixie herself with different Instagram filters before adding them to her story. Trixie received the notification that Katya had tagged her in a story and followed her, and she smiled.

“How did you find my Instagram so quickly, stalker?” Trixie teased.

“Well your handle is literally ‘trixiemattel8’, so it didn’t take a private investigator”

“I think it does, I think you hired one”

“True-- you caught me. Also what’s the 8? Is that like your birth date because that is so lame.”

“No it’s not a birthday, that’s absolutely lame as hell, fuck you. I hate having a number in my name but I do not fuck with an underscore, and ‘trixie mattel’s 1 through 7 were already taken, and ugh, the girl with the ‘trixiemattel’ handle doesn’t even use the account but Instagram won’t give it to me so like -- whatever I don’t even care,” Trixie huffed.

“I can see that, how much you don’t care!”

“Shut up! It’s so dumb like why wont they give me the account name, I want it to be the same as all my other accounts.”

“My deepest sympathies, Trixallini. Another thing, I might have maybe perhaps Instagram stalked you during the week before this,'' Katya admitted bashfully.

“Oh wow” Trixie replied dryly.

“I almost liked one of your posts from like two years ago and I threw my phone across the room out of sheer panic,” the pale blonde confessed. 

“I, not being a weirdo like you, can't relate to any of that. But if I could then, in theory, I would probably have to tell you that I almost liked a picture of you and a little black kitten from like four years ago when I was on my lunch break earlier in the week,” Trixie confessed, giving Katya a mischievous smile.

“Oh my god! You stalked me too, Alexa play Why You So Obsessed With Me by Mariah Carey” Katya yelled.

“It’s just called ‘ _Obsessed_ ’, actually,” Trixie informed the petite blonde.

“You would know, stalker.” 

The pair selected milkshakes from the menu, a pink strawberry cheesecake flavoured one with sprinkles for Trixie and a double chocolate fudge cake for Katya, and Katya went inside to officially order after insisting that this was her treat. As she waited for Katya to return, Trixie followed her back on Instagram, liking the photo of Katya with the cat she had just spoken about. 

Trixie insisted on getting a picture of the milkshakes for her Instagram story before they were allowed to drink them, and then they enjoyed their shakes, comfortable conversation flowing between the two of them throughout the desserts.

Being such a lovely day, Trixie suggested they go for a walk after their milkshakes, and so they walked side by side. Occasionally the backs of their hands would brush together, and Trixie would feel a flutter of butterflies in her stomach in spite of herself.

“So you’ve been here for almost a week now, what else do you think?” Trixie asked, revisiting the topic, looking over at the smaller woman beside her.

“Oh it seems great! Again, I love New York and the whole vibe here is completely different but I think I’m going to love it. It’s strange being so far from my family but you know... Facetime.”

“Are you and your family close?” Trixie asked inquisitively.

“Oh yeah! We’ve always been super close, my brother’s a couple of years older than me and my sister a few years younger, and luckily we were like best friends growing up! And my parents are great! My mom’s really mushy, and my dad kinda keeps to himself, but he’s sweet -- he actually let me put him in drag for pride after I came out.”

“Wait, are you serious? Your dad went to pride with you? In drag?”

“Yeah! Well sorta -- he didn’t want glue on his eyebrows but other than that. They took me to my first pride parade, and have gone most years on their own since; if they’re not busy that weekend they usually make it work. Walked with PFLAG once, too.”

Trixie listened intently as Katya spoke about her family, loving how her eyes lit up when she spoke of her parents and siblings. When Katya flipped the question and asked Trixie about her own family in return, Trixie told her that they didn’t really get along with or keep in touch before moving the conversation on with a joke - a skill she had become expert at when people inquired about her upbringing and home life. She pretended not to notice the way Katya’s brow twitched in her direction before she changed the subject, asking Trixie which way they would be turning at the upcoming intersection. 

As they continued to walk, the conversation moved on to past relationships and Trixie learned that Katya and her ex, Tatiana, had been together for four years but the relationship had slowly dissolved from romantic to just friends, though by the time they had broken up they couldn’t even really be considered that as neither woman was sure they really enjoyed the other's company any more. Katya had mourned the relationship for a short time before realising how much it had been holding her back. She didn’t have any ill-feelings towards her ex, but found that she didn’t miss her at all, or at least not as much as one would expect. Trixie couldn’t deny that she was glad to hear that Katya didn’t have any lingering feelings for the woman back in New York, though she made sure not to show it in the moment.

“Ok so remember when we were on the plane and you had mentioned going out for food and the stars…” Trixie stated as she gestured to the street ahead of them that's sidewalks were decorated with pink stars, celebrities' names engraved.

Katya’s eyes followed Trixie’s hand as she pointed to the ground and she broke into a wide smile, “Oh my god! This is fantastic, Trixie!”

“Who’s star do you want to see most? I’ll google and we can go to it,” Trixie explained.

“The Big Dipper, please”

Trixie stopped walking to give Katya her most pointedly unimpressed face. “I hate you -- whose star!”

“Well,” Katya considered, “it would have to be the great Julie Roberts’”

Trixie did a quick google search, furrowing her brow and scrolling for a bit before looking up from her phone towards Katya, sympathetically.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but it would appear The Great Julie Roberts doesn't have a star”.

“What!?” Katya exclaimed in disbelief, “Impossible!” She took her own phone out of her pocket to google it for herself and when she was faced with the reality that her favourite actress did, in fact, not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame she gasped, frowned and then shook her head. “Wow.”

“Damn, Julia was robbed-erts.”

“I can’t believe you would joke at a time like this,” Katya responded solemnly.

“My deepest apologies.”

Katya made sure to bring it up the lack of Julia Roberts’ star throughout the rest of the day, stating that she would do everything in her power to ensure ‘’Ms Roberts’ got the star that was so rightfully hers’, which only encouraged Trixie to make more fun of the situation each time. 

After the third time that stargate had been brought up, Trixie found herself commenting off-handedly, “I’m not really sure if I love her much honestly".

Katya stopped in her tracks, making an over-exaggerated gasping gesture as she brought one hand to her forehead and the other to her chest. “You don’t love Julie Roberts? But Pretty Woman! Notting Hill! Trixie what about Stepmom!? And Steel Magnolias-”

“Okay, I’m sorry! Steel Magnolias is iconic, it stars my girl, Dolly!” Trixie apologised as she cut off Katya.

Katya held her shocked pose until Trixie grabbed her arm and pulled her into a walk again, calling her a drama queen as she shook her head.

As they walked, Trixie learned that Katya was actually a bit of a movie buff, and aside from Julia Roberts’ filmography, she was apparently mainly into foreign alternative flicks Trixie had never even begun to have heard of. She also learned that Katya had been an avid gymnast growing up which benefited her immensely in yoga, reminding Trixie that was a favourite hobby of hers. Most of Katya’s friends in New York had been fellow writers from her previous job and she hadn’t connected with many of them on a personal level outside of work; the rest she had met through Tatiana and they hadn’t kept in touch with her after the breakup. Her best friend from college, Bianca, had moved to Europe and the pair had grown apart since the move, to which Trixie told Katya about her best friend Kim that had moved to New York for college and lived there ever since, and how she had only made it out to visit her a few times in the recent years so her trip last weekend had been very special. Then she led the conversation on to her current friends.

“I met Shea at work, she used to work at _Girl Next Door_ while she was studying fashion design. She left the store after she graduated and I got her assistant manager position. I met Bob through Shea and we really hit it off, we would go out to the gay bars together and be each other’s wingmen after I broke up with Jaida, but we haven’t done that for a while,” Trixie smiled as she spoke fondly about her friends.

They had continued on for a while when Katya said that she was beginning to feel hungry, and asked Trixie if she wanted to come back to her apartment to get takeout and watch a film.

“One I’ve heard of?” Trixie asked as she walked alongside Katya down the ever-busy street.

“No promises,” Katya responded, smiling toward the denim-clad blonde.

“Ugh, you’re the worst.”

Katya captured Trixie’s hand in hers then, jolting Trixie slightly as she changed the direction of their walking, and they kept on hand in hand in pleasant conversation until they reached Katya’s apartment.

  
  
  


Once inside, Trixie settled herself into the corner of Katya’s couch as the petite woman ordered vegetable chow mein for Trixie and kung pao shrimp for herself, with spring rolls for them to share. The food didn’t take long to arrive and they ate side by side on the couch watching their collaborated film of choice, _Psycho._ The two discussed how much they loved the film as it played, discovered that horror was both one of their favourite film genres, Trixie preferring the old slasher franchises, particularly Friday The 13th, while Katya said she liked them all but that Psycho was her ultimate favourite -- she had watched it religiously as a teen and it now held a special place in her heart. Katya told Trixie that if she could visit any fictional land from tv or film, she would visit the Bates Motel from Psycho because “Vera Farmiga stars in the Netflix show and she’s a total milf”, which Trixie couldn’t disagree with. Katya asked Trixie if she had to fuck, marry or kill Norman Bates, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, who would she would choose for each. Trixie settled on fucking Jason, killing Norman and marrying Michael to which Katya teased her, replying “maybe you should change your Instagram to TrixieMyers8 now that you’re a married woman”.Trixie rolled her eyes and said she didn’t see why Michael shouldn’t change his name to Michael Mattel, but giggled in spite of herself when Katya started referring to her as Mrs.Myers. 

As the film played on, they discussed the dramatics of it and laughed together, quieting to watch the climax when Janet Leigh's character took her fateful shower and the horror score blared loudly from the TV. When the film ended, Katya chattered on animatedly, running through a series of memorized facts about the film they had just watched.

“-and did you know the shower scene took like over a week to film! And it was the first American film to feature a toilet, and-” Katya continued on.

Trixie smiled and nodded along. She wasn’t overly interested in the facts, but wasn’t about to stop Katya’s explaining -- she enjoyed hearing her talk so happily about something she enjoyed. Trixie knew that she could get like this when talking about Dolly or Barbies and remembered a time in her early twenties when Kim had called Trixie out for not paying enough attention to other people’s interests yet expecting them to give her all of theirs when she was speaking. Kim had called her a “narcissistic little shit” and while Trixie knew she was partly joking, she had worked hard to give others the attention she would expect from them in return from there on.

Katya ran out of fun facts and was currently comparing the original A Star Is Born to the remake, a subject she had gotten to through Barbra Streisand, who starred in the original film. Barbra was a Taurus like Katya, she learned as Katya dipped into the subject of star signs, bringing up that Vera Farmiga was a Leo and she starred in Bates Motel which is the setting of the movie Psycho which they had just watched, but Trixie had lost the train of conversation long ago. She interrupted to say she had thought she was a Leo for a while but now knows she’s a Virgo and then once again to say she’d never seen the original but she thought Lady Gaga was amazing in the remake. 

Trixie’s phone lit up with a notification and on the screen she saw that the time read 9.30pm, so she helped Katya clear up the little mess that there was from their dinner and then suggested she book an Uber home as she had work in the morning and preferred not to travel alone too late at night if it was avoidable.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Katya said, leaning against her door frame as Trixie put her shoes back on.

“Me too,” Trixie said, standing upright and coming face to face with Katya. She smiled earnestly, her gaze dropping to Katya’s lips briefly before returning back to her eyes. 

Katya did the same before a smirk pulled at her lips, and she dramatically huffed. “I still can’t believe Julia doesn’t have a star though!” Trixie pushed at her arm.

“No way, you were upset that she didn’t have a star? Really? No, I don’t believe you! You?” Trixie replied sarcastically, shaking Katya’s shoulder as she laughed incredulously..

“I just really think she deserves one, Trixie. That’s my truth and I’m not going to apologise for it.” 

Katya’s hand came up to lay over Trixies, which was still squeezing playfully at her shoulder, and she brought them down together, intertwining their fingers easily.

“But what if I want an apology?” Trixie teased, now leaning against the same door frame, opposite Katya, facing her again. 

“Is that what you really want?” Katya locked eyes with Trixie and rubbed her thumb along Trixie’s hand. Trixie shifted where she stood.

“Mhm.”

Trixie’s phone dinged, a notification now present on her screen.

Katya looked at Trixie’s lit up phone, then back at Trixie, stepping towards her. “Then I guess you’ll just have to keep wanting it,” she winked. “Your Uber’s here.”

Trixie softly let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, and felt her hand slip out of Katya’s, being replaced by her purse that Katya was now handing her. 

Trixie cocked her eyebrow at Katya. “Oh really?”

“I’m just trying to be mindful of your rider rating, Nancy.”

“My rating is just fine, I am a pleasure to have as a rider.”

“I bet you are,” Katya smiled playfully as she opened the door, and Trixie stepped through to the hall. “Goodnight Trixie, text me to let me know you get home safely.”

“I will,” Trixie smiled back as she took a few steps backward down the hall, towards the stairs that would lead her down to the ground floor. Before Katya could fully shut her door, Trixie called out, “Oh, Katya! One more thing!”

Katya reappeared, genuine interest on her face as she replied. “What's up?”

“Dolly has a star, just saying.”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned and made her way to the stairs, not turning to look back at Katya as she cursed Trixie, or to notice the way Katya watched her leave, eyes trailing from head to toe and back, lingering on different features each time, until Trixie was out of completely out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 title, song reference: Hey Good Lookin' - Hank Williams & Johnny Cash


	3. Amusement Parks USA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hi! We're back!
> 
> Thank you all for continuing to read about our ladies! Remember when we used to be able to go outside and see people and go to amusement parks... damn. 
> 
> Hope you're all well, Stay safe! :)

For Trixie, the week following her evening with Katya progressed much like the last, working her shifts at  _ GND  _ as well as teaching guitar in her home to children that would rather be anywhere but. This week, however, Trixie didn’t have to work any double shifts, and had only half the number of guitar students, which she was extremely thankful for. On Monday evening she had received a text from Katya informing her that the interview with Atomic magazine seemed to have gone well and she should find out if she was successful by the end of the week, and that she was thankfully confident that it was going to be good news. Trixie replied with enthusiastic congratulations, telling Katya how proud she was but also how unsurprised she was -- Trixie had taken some time to look into Katya’s work after their date, and immediately understood how her portfolio had gotten her that interview so timely -- Katya was a great writer, and an equally talented photographer. 

When Trixie and Katya hung out, they had so easily fallen into a rhythm that Trixie had found intoxicating, and she found herself wanting to invite Katya over to celebrate, wanting to spend more time with her in general, but resisted the urge, not wanting to come off too strong too soon. Trixie recalled how invested she had previously gotten with Jaida in such a short space of time, only to find in time that the other woman had not been on the same page. She didn’t want to get too ahead of herself with Katya, knowing that although she continued to text Trixie, and seemed to be attracted to her, it didn’t mean she was interested in anything of substance.

Trixie had a history with being dubious about relationships, having limited experience with healthy or fulfilling ones growing up herself. When she had been younger she theorized that maybe she would choose to stay single forever -- she could cohabitate with lots of animals and find comfort and a sense of safety in her own company as she had done through her childhood years. Seeing the way her mother and stepfather would interact, Trixie couldn’t see the appeal of a significant other. In high school she had tried dating, but found that her relationships never lasted more than a few weeks. Her stepdad had credited the short nature of her relationships to Trixie’s ‘easiness’, claiming that she mustn’t be giving the “nice boys” any reason to stick around longer than they did, but in reality Trixie had always been the one to end things before they ever even became physical. In every relationship she entered, she found herself rejecting the advances of the guys she was seeing, both physically and emotionally, until she was unable to look at them without feeling resentment and shame. At first, she had attributed this to her upbringing, but came to wonder if it ran deeper when her friend Laila had kissed during a game of truth or dare at a house party and Trixie thought about how it felt for weeks. 

It was only after moving to Los Angeles and being free to explore her sexuality that Trixie had done a full 180; she found that the second she had received some affection from Jaida, she immediately craved more. Her aversion to love became an entrancement by it, and she suddenly understood the desire to be known by another person, to be touched by another person, and wanted more than anything to be accepted completely for who she was by someone -- for her loud laugh, her above average height, her poor relationship with her family, the fact she’d never gone to college, for all of it. 

After things hadn’t worked with Jaida, Trixie worried that maybe she had been the problem after all. Her stepfather’s words lingered in her thoughts as she considered the speed with which she had fallen for the woman who she found hadn’t been there to catch her. Did she give herself away too quickly? Perhaps women only saw her as a fun series of dark humour jokes which eventually lost their charm, and then they would grow bored of her. She had dedicated a lot of time and effort to working through the internal battle of it all, but still found that she hadn’t dated since Jaida; she hadn’t even really considered it until now, where she found herself wanting to maybe try with Katya.

Despite Trixie’s worries, she found that every day she and Katya would text back and forth, conversations typically starting out innocently enough but more often than not developing into shameless flirting. On more than one occasion Ginger or Brianna had caught her blushing furiously at her phone in the staffroom during lunch and when asked who she was talking to, Trixie had stumbled over an excuse before darting out of the room feeling completely embarrassed. 

On Thursday, Katya finally heard back from Atomic magazine, being informed she had been successful in her interview. When Katya had texted Trixie the news, asking if she wanted to go see a film to celebrate, Trixie immediately agreed to go, sending her assent along with her string of enthusiastic congratulations. When it had come time to figure out details, Katya suggested they go see a newly released horror film; Trixie had searched the trailer on youtube, concluding about 10 seconds into it that the film was definitely going to be terrible. She briefly considered suggesting a film with a Rotten Tomatoes rating that was at least in the double digits, but deciding against it, figuring that seeing a horror film, shitty or not, might give her an excuse to cuddle up into Katya, which was ultimately more worth it anyhow. 

As predicted, the movie had been terrible, but Trixie had gotten to hold Katya's hand and, during a cheap jump scare that caught her off guard, she had twisted into Katya’s side, shrieking loudly as Katya laughed beside her, absent-mindedly rubbing Trixie’s back to comfort her. 

Trixie found herself eager to hang out with Katya again during the weekend, and being naturally competitive both with herself and others, she wanted to ensure that whatever she suggested they do would be their most fun activity to date. She ran through the information she had about the petite blonde and her interests and quickly dismissed the possibility of them attending a yoga class together, knowing it wasn’t something Trixie was going to be naturally good at - even if the possibility of getting to see how flexible Katya was did happen to be a particularly enticing thought. At work on Friday,  _ GND _ was particularly quiet and Trixie began to brainstorm some ideas for what she and Katya could do in between checking stock and ensuring upcoming shifts for the next few weeks were appropriately staffed. 

On her cycle home from work, Trixie began toying with an idea in her head, running through the logistics of pulling it off and almost cycling into an unexpecting tourist in the process. When arriving back at her apartment building, she secured her bike and removed her helmet, ruffling her hand through her hair to unflatten the curls at the top of her head. She climbed the stairs to her apartment, and after stepping inside, changed out of her work clothes immediately. Then settling on her couch, Trixie began contacting the necessary people to determine if it would be possible to pull off her plan for tomorrow, and after confirming with them that she was set, she texted Katya.

_ Trixie: Hey, I don’t know if it’s too short notice but would you want to hang out tomorrow?  _

_ Katya: New phone who dis? _

_ Trixie: It’s the big gulp you got behind the 7-Eleven. _

_ Katya: Oh of course, Trixie, hi! _

_ Katya: I’d love to do something tomorrow, what did you have in mind?  _

_ Trixie: I might have a little something up my sleeve but that's for me to know and you to find out tomorrow. _

_ Trixie: Just be ready for 8am and wear something comfortable and weather appropriate. _

_ Katya: Would you say clogs are weather appropriate? _

_ Trixie: Excuse me? _

_ Katya: You know!! Clogs!!! _

_ Trixie: Oh right, yes, now that you have yelled the name I know what they are _

_ Katya: Clunky wooden shoe, pointy toe? _

_ Trixie: OH _

_ Trixie: Oh my god _

_ Trixie: I’ve actually decided you’re not invited anymore, sorry, goodbye  _

_ Katya: Hey!! _

_ Katya: I’ll have you know that clogs were the height of fashion in Sweden during the 1970s and were considered suitable attire for the avant-garde man. I might have to wear them in solidarity. _

_ Trixie: Solidarity with who exactly? The avant-garde men? _

_ Katya: Precisely. _

_ Trixie: Why do you even own a pair of clogs!? _

_ Katya: I don’t _

_ Katya: But if I needed them for tomorrow I could run out to the store and grab a pair tonight! _

_ Trixie: If I see a pair of wooden shoes on your feet when I come pick you up tomorrow I’ll be asking the Uber to drive right past you as I delete your number from my phone. _

_ Katya: Okay Cloggy Sue, whatever you say! I’m going to get ready for bed now. See you tomorrow!  _

_ Trixie: G’nite weirdo _

_ Katya: Goodnight Trixie! :-) _

\---

The harsh tones of the alarm pulled Trixie from her sleep at 7am and she groaned as she shut it off. She forced herself to climb out of bed and made her way to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth before working her hair into two french braids and applying some light makeup to bring the look together. She opted not to do her full makeup routine today, not wanting to sweat it off completely as the day progressed. Returning to her room, she selected some pink shorts and a floral blouse top with a collar, grabbing a small backpack and tossing it over her shoulder. Trixie walked through to her kitchen and grabbed a cereal bar and a glass of water as she booked an Uber with multiple stops, the first of which being Katya’s place. When the Uber was a few minutes away, she slipped into her sneakers and made her way down to the street. As she climbed into the back seat and secured her seatbelt, she texted Katya to tell her to come outside in ten minutes and when the car arrived at Katya’s address she was already at the curb waiting. Wearing denim shorts and a band T-shirt for some band Trixie had never heard of before, Katya had half of her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and the rest in loose waves -- Trixie thought she looked beautiful. Katya climbed into the back seat beside Trixie, flashing her a bright smile as she fastened her seatbelt and the Uber began driving to their final destination. 

“So where are we going!?” Katya asked excitedly.

“Wow, hello to you too!” 

“Oh yes right hello there Trixie. Or should I say-- wait. Is it-- Patricia? Beatrice? Eltrixabeth? El Trixador? I just realized I don’t know,” Katya continued her stream of consciousness as she ran through all of the potential names she could think of that Trixie could be short for.

“It’s actually Beyonce,” Trixie replied quickly, “people just call me Trixie to keep me humble, but I guess now you know, so,” she trailed off, rifling through her backpack to make sure she packed her sunscreen, and sighing with relief as she found it next to her polaroid camera, which she immediately pulled out and turned on. “Smile!”

Katya pulled a funny face instead, miming like she was driving the car, and Trixie giggled as she snapped a picture of her, placing it on her lap to develop as she tucked the camera away. She looked at the picture, watching Katya’s features slowly appear on the glossy paper as they drove.

“So what is it?” Katya asked then, and Trixie zoned back in, looking away from the photo she had been smiling at.

“Hm? What’s what?”

Katya rolled her eyes and pushed at Trixie lightly as she exclaimed, “your name, Trixeroni! Full name, in full, if you please.”

“Ugh, fine -- it’s Beatrice. Beatrice Rose Mattel,” Trixie clarified before quickly adding, “but please don’t call me Beatrice, it makes me sound like 80 yeas old.” 

“But what if I’m into old chicks?” Katya replied, wagging her eyebrows comically.

Trixie scoffed, looking out her window. “Mama, you are old chicks.”

Katya laughed enthusiastically, refraining from flailing to reduce the number of looks coming from the Uber driver that was being subjected to this conversation. “Shut up! I’m a youthful young person. Also, I won’t call you Beatrice. How do you feel about Rose?”

“Neutral! I think it’s pretty.”

“And I think you’re pretty. Wanna know my name?”

Trixie blushed, nodding emphatically. “Yeah! Let’s hear it.”

“Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova!”

Trixie’s eyes widened, hearing not only Katya’s full name for the first time, but the heavy Russian accent which accompanied it as well.

“I know, right,” Katya said.

“Well that’s a bit of a mouthful.” 

“So is my ass, they came as a matching set.”

“Not that.”

“That!”

The car made a turn and began to approach the guest drop off point, and Katya shifted her attention outside the passenger window for a second before her head whipped around and she turned to Trixie, eyes threatening to jump out of their sockets. 

“Trixie Rose, are you taking me to Universal Studios?” Katya yelled, startling the Uber driver slightly as they pulled over.

Again Trixie blushed before responding. “Nah, I just thought we would Uber here, take a picture, and then leave again,” she deadpanned before smiling wide, adding, “I do have a specific reason I wanted to bring you here, but also I thought it would be really fun overall -- are you excited?” 

Right as she asked, Trixie came to the sudden realization that she had no idea if Katya even liked theme parks or thrill rides, but before she had time to start worrying, Katya was already beaming at her.

“I’m so excited! Oh my god, Trixie, this is great!” She sounded like an excited child as she practically bounced up and down in the back seat, melting Trixie’s heart in the process.

Trixie thanked the Uber driver as they exited the car and made their way towards the park entrance. Trixie pulled out her phone, reading a text that had just come in, and looked around briefly until she spotted the source of the message. She grabbed Katya’s hand then, guiding her in the exact opposite direction to the park’s box office. Confusion was immediately evident on Katya’s face, which only became further enhanced as they approached a blonde girl who appeared to be in her late teens that Katya had never met or seen before. The two waved at each other excitedly, greeting each other with a soft hug and becoming a mass of wavy blonde tresses.

“Katya, this is Blair. Blair, Katya,” Trixie introduced the two women before continuing. “I work with Blair’s mom at  _ Girl Next Door _ , and then last year Blair got a guitar for Christmas and I started tutoring her. Blair works here and is letting us have two of her friends and family passes for today!” Trixie explained to Katya.

Eyes widening, Katya immediately turned her body to Blair. “Oh my god are you sure? I can totally buy my ticket, you don’t have to waste one on me!” Katya interjected.

“It's no problem at all, like, I’ve been telling Trixie for ages just to let me know if she wants to use them since I get in for free anyways and most of my friends either also work here or have annual passes! They’d just sit in my account otherwise, I’m happy to give them to you!” The young blonde girl replied cheerily. 

Blair stayed with the two women as they entered the park, ensuring there were no issues with the pass, and explained that she would be in the park with her friends if anything did come up. 

“Just text me if you need anything, have fun!” She skipped off towards a group of girls who were waiting for her.

“That was so sweet of her I can’t believe she did that for us, especially for someone she hasn’t met before!” Katya said as they turned to walk deeper into the park.

“Oh, Blair is the absolute sweetest. And she comes here a lot, so this worked out super well for today! -- So, what do you want to do first?” Trixie asked, turning to Katya excitedly. 

“You tell me! I’ve never been here before so I’ll just trust your judgements. Wasn’t there something you wanted to show me?”

Trixie beamed back at her, nodding, and grabbed Katya’s hand again, walking with clear direction until they arrived at their first destination,  _ The World-Famous Studio Tour.  _ The attraction was a long time favourite of Trixie’s; getting to sit on a tram car on a tour through various film sets was not only a nice way to get out of the sun and relax her feet after walking the park for hours on hot summer days, but she also liked engaging with the immersive props and noticing new details about the sets every time she rode. Neither of those, though, were the reason Trixie chose the ride today, and she was very excited to see Katya’s reaction when she realized what it was.

They waited in line and commented on the different movie posters that decorated the waiting area, Trixie gushing about  _ Mamma Mia _ and threatening to leave the park immediately after Katya said she didn’t really like those films.

Before long they were boarding the little tram and the tour set off, Trixie placing Katya at the outer seat and herself in at Katya’s side. They listened intently as the tour showed them around the sets of various films and TV shows both women were familiar with. Trixie snuggled in close to Katya’s side as the tram was shaken around during the  _ 3D King Kong _ section, then found herself in a fit of giggles when Katya jumped in her seat when an animatronic dinosaur poked its head out from behind some foliage suddenly in the  _ Jurassic Park _ section. Katya insisted that she hadn’t been scared, but her pulse -- which Trixie could feel beneath her own hand where they met together -- said otherwise. 

Trixie was elated when they arrived at the  _ Jaws _ portion of the tour, it being her favourite part and never failing to send her own pulse skyrocketing. Trixie was a proud roller coaster enthusiast, loving the adrenaline rush that came with the height and speed these rides provided, but there was something about this section of the movie tour that made her extremely nervous. The tram stopped on the water’s edge of the famous film’s set and, watching the large fin gliding through the water before disappearing below, Trixie knew it was only a matter of time before the animatronic shark would erupt out of the water at their side. The slow tension of anticipating the shark menace’s arrival had Trixie squirming in her seat, reaching for Katya’s arm and pulling it close.

Katya was sitting at the side of the tram closest to the water and Trixie grasped tighter at her, feeling the sweat build in her palms. Katya placed a hand on top of Trixie’s own and squeezed it reassuringly as she tried to suppress a giggle at Trixie’s nervousness.

“Is this why you sat me at the window seat? Am I about to get splashed or something?” Katya whisper-yelled at Trixie who shushed her and told her to keep watching the water.

As the robotic shark appeared quickly out of the water right beside Katya, Trixie curled her body into the smaller woman, burying her face into her shoulder and screaming so loudly she was worried that she might have damaged the other woman’s hearing. Her heart was beating fast and Katya put an arm around her shoulder and stroked up and down her arm, laughing as she reassured her that she was safe from the “very realistic and very scary, not at all completely robotic looking, shark”. The feeling of Katya’s fingers stroking the length of her arm did little to slow her pulse and she lay her head on Katya’s shoulder to try to hide the burning redness of her cheeks.

As they entered Whoville in the  _ Grinch  _ portion of the tour, Trixie suddenly remembered the reason she had the idea to take Katya on this ride and she felt giddy like a child. Katya looked at her quizzically but didn’t enquire until the tram rounded the corner to exit to the next set and Katya gasped.

“Oh my god. Trixie are you kidding!?” Katya brought her hands up to cover her mouth and Trixie beamed at her as the tram stopped outside none other than the Bates motel on the  _ Psycho  _ movie set.

“Surprise!” Trixie said through her massive smile, watching Katya who had her eyes glued on the motel set beside them. 

Finally arriving at the reason she had brought Katya to the theme park, she could tell by the other woman’s expression that the pay off had been worth it.

Katya’s mouth hung open in disbelief as she saw the set of her favourite horror film standing before her, the small motel running adjacent to the tram and the old, haunted looking Bates house standing behind it up on a hill, just as she had seen on her screen throughout the years. Katya’s eyes darted around, trying to take everything in, and then a grin spread across her face, eyes widening, as a man walked out of the motel. 

“Trixie!” she exclaimed, whispering excitedly at the woman who had brought her here, “that’s Norman!”

Trixie giggled. “I know!”

Trixie smiled as she watched Katya, who was clearly enthralled by the experience, eyes locked on the actor dressed as Norman Bates who put on a show for guests as he tried to sneak the body of the shower victim from the film out of the motel and into the trunk of his car. She took out her polaroid camera, snapping a picture of Katya with the Bates motel and Norman in the background.

At this stage of the tour the actor turned and acknowledged the tram. With a sinister smile spread across his face, he raised a knife and walked menacingly towards it as the iconic movie score blared through the tram speakers. Katya grabbed Trixie's arm and shook it in excitement as she turned to look at Trixie and the golden blonde snapped some more photos, Katya’s face looking overwhelmingly happy in each of them. The tram drove on then, fleeing the scene and Katya turned back to get a final look at the set.

It was hard to focus on the end of the tour because all Katya had wanted to do was talk about how she had “survived her stay in the Bates Motel” which Trixie thought was maybe not exactly an accurate description of what they had just done but decided not to correct her because she was so cute when she was excited.

After they exited the backlot tour, Katya pulled Trixie behind a display out of the way of the crowds and immediately pulled her into a hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around as Trixie giggled into her hair.

“Trixie Mattel you wonderful, beautiful human being, I can't believe you brought me to Universal and took me to the set of  _ Psycho _ !” Katya gushed at the taller blonde, lowering her to the ground but keeping their bodies pressed together.

“You said it was one of your favourite films when we watched so I thought it would be fun for you to see it for yourself!”

“You’re incredible, you know that? I can’t believe you even remembered that.”

“I know, I know, I didn’t ask to be born as a perfect person but I just am and that's my cross to bare” Trixie replied solemnly with an arm on Katya’s bicep.

“You’re a dumb bitch, but a dumb bitch I appreciate very much.” 

Katya brought a hand to Trixie’s cheek as she smiled goofily up at her, her eyes crinkling up in the corners and perfect pearly whites on display. 

“What?” Trixie smiled back, giggling softly at Katya, who was openly staring at her, gaze dropping to Trixie’s lips.

“You’re cute, Trixie Rose.” 

Trixie’s heart caught in her chest and she looked to the ground momentarily, then back up at Katya, who held her gaze steadily.

“I am cute, aren’t I?” Trixie replied, her voice half catching in her throat, and Katya immediately rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh.

“Oh, shut up,” she said, and then her lips met Trixie’s. 

Trixie gasped at the contact, heart threatening to leap out of her chest before her eyes fluttered closed and she melted into the sensation of Katya’s soft lips against her own. One of her hands came up to Katya’s neck instinctively, fingers weaving into her hair as Trixie moved to deepen the kiss, a soft mew escaping her lips when Katya pulled away all too soon, smiling lazily at Trixie before briefly pecking her on the lips a second time. Trixie smiled bashfully at Katya as she recalled her lively surroundings, temporarily forgetting where she was.

“Let’s get food?” Katya asked, taking hold of Trixie’s hand. Trixie smiled and nodded and they set off further into the park. 

  
  
  


They picked up some pre-packed sandwiches and sodas and chatted happily as they ate.

“So what do you want to do next?” Katya asked once they had finished eating lunch.

“I thought we could maybe do the Walking Dead maze next since that’s just a sort of walk through, haunted house type situation?” Trixie suggested before adding, “I think that makes more sense than jumping on a roller coaster straight after lunch.”

Katya agreed, deciding that throwing up in a Universal trash can wouldn’t be a great topper for the date, and they cleared their table, walking in the direction of the ominous looking attraction.

  
  


For what felt like the entirety of their time in line, Katya had taken to hyping the two of them up for how scary the ride was going to be. Once finally inside, both of them were so on edge that they screamed louder and with more conviction than any other park guest as they clung to one another and made their way through the terror filled attraction hand in hand. The second they stepped out of attraction their screams turned into equally as loud cackling laughter as they stumbled around, clinging to each other, hands still connected as they had been throughout the haunted house.

“Oh my god, you were so scared! It was kind of embarrassing,” Trixie jested at Katya as they began to walk through the park. 

“What?” Katya asked, cupping her hand around her ear. “Could you repeat that please, I think I’ve lost my ability to hear after how insanely loud you were screaming that whole time, Barbara!” 

Trixie shoved her shoulder into Katya and giggled as they meandered over to the  _ Harry Potter _ section of the park, looking through some souvenir shops before getting in line for another ride. As they browsed, they discussed which Hogwarts house they would belong to, Katya taking Trixie’s bag to allow her to try on a cloak she had been eyeing. 

“I’m a Slytherin I think,” Trixie said, checking herself out in the mirror, and Katya burst out laughing. Trixie looked back at her, jaw slack in offense and brows furrowed.

“Excuse me! What’s so funny!” she asked Katya, whose hands were now covering her mouth, seeing the sincere surprise on Trixie’s face.

“Mama…” Katya started, a soft giggle escaping her lips as she looked at the woman who was now pouting at her. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am!” Trixie pressed, placing the cloak back on its hanger and moving to sift through a rack of scarves. “I am very intimidating and cool and I look so great in green, bitch, you couldn’t take me.”

Katya joined Trixie at the scarf rack then, pulling a blue Ravenclaw one around her own neck before grabbing a red one and tossing it around Trixie’s, using it as leverage to pull her close.

“Okay Bellatrixie, let’s get one thing straight -- you’d look good in anything and any colour,” she cooed, smirking at the girl whose cheeks were beginning to match the embroidery on the scarf she now donned, “but we have to face the facts,” she said, tossing one of the ends of the Gryffindor merch over Trixie’s shoulder, “and I know a Gryffindor-ass-bitch when I see one.”

“Rude!” Trixie exclaimed, tossing the scarf at Katya’s face and sauntering off to the candy aisle, Katya joining her once she had returned the overpriced merchandise to its home on the rack. Trixie was looking at a rock candy shaped like a horse that she had pulled from a display reading ‘Patronus Pops’ when Katya walked up to her.

“Okay, round two. What do you think your patronus would be?” Trixie asked, pointing the candy at Katya.

“A cat, probably,”

“Oh because your name is Katya? Wow, you’re like a really creative person!”

“Fuck off!” Katya exclaimed, then looked around at the kids in the surrounding area, and lowered her voice. “No, because I’m gonna piss all over your stuff when you aren’t looking.”

“Wait who told you my kink?”

Katya wheezed in response, laughing and telling Trixie she was rotted as she flailed where she stood. She wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes from her fit of laughter, and looked at Trixie who was smiling wide at her, proud of her joke’s impact.

“Alright blondie, what would your patronus be, then?” Katya asked.

“A bunny!” Trixie confirmed confidently, a smile still sitting pretty on her glossed lips.

“Ah yes, because they, too, breed prolifically,” Katya nodded.

Trixie glared at her and Katya began to wheeze-laugh once again. 

  
  


After they had completed the rides in the Wizarding World section of the park, the women decided to stop to take some pictures, Trixie producing her polaroid camera from her bag that still sat on Katya’s shoulder, and finding another park guest to take a picture of them together in front of the castle. Trixie requested they take two so she could give Katya one to keep, thanking the person for their help, and then the two women carried on, snapping pictures of one another on their phones in various poses and with a handful of different characters as they crossed the park to the attractions they hadn’t ridden yet, Trixie smiling happily at her growing collection of photographs with Katya.

Once they had ridden every ride they wanted to, the two blondes opted to have some ice cream and relax, sitting on a bench beside the  _ Transformers _ ride -- at Trixie’s request -- and watching parents encourage their terrified children to meet Megatron. Both stifled their laughter as the massive movie villain bellowed a threat about destroying the planet towards a small boy who immediately burst out crying and ran towards his mother before a picture could even be taken. 

“You know, you’re really in no position to be laughing at that child considering you needed your hand held on a flight at the ripe old age of 27,” Trixie teased, cocking an eyebrow at Katya and smirking as she licked at the strawberry swirl cone she had purchased. 

“Well, all I have to say to that is I think that my fear of flying is far more justified than your fear of a mechanical theme park shark,” Katya replied, side-eyeing Trixie, a small smile playing at her lips.

Trixie scrunched up her face, crossed her arms and looked away in mocked annoyance until Katya put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug, kissing her temple. Trixie rested her head against the other woman’s shoulder and smiled despite herself.

After circling back to ride their favourite rides one final time the two decided to call it a day, heading out onto the citywalk where they grabbed cheap fast food, revisiting highlights from the day that caused them to erupt into laughter on more than one occasion. They airdropped the pictures they had taken to each other and Trixie flicked through them to find a few selfies, pictures of them in front of Hogwarts both individually and together, pictures with some of their favourite characters and some candids of one another. Trixie’s favourite picture was the one she had taken of Katya with Norman Bates and the namesake motel behind her, her expression reading of pure joy with a big toothy smile that reached her eyes. Trixie took a picture of the polaroid on her phone, which she briefly considered making her lock screen before deciding that would probably be an extremely weird thing to do, and compromised with looking at the picture a few beats longer.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Katya asked then, and Trixie’s head snapped up to her, realizing she had been smiling stupidly at her phone, at a picture of Katya, who she was walking alongside, and who was now grinning mischievously at Trixie. 

“Oh, just some weird woman that followed me around all day’,” she replied passively, maintaining Katya’s gaze as she swiped absently to the next picture to rid the cause for the shorter woman’s grin from her screen. Katya looked back to the phone, cocking an eyebrow as her grin only grew, and Trixie’s gaze returned to her phone to find it displaying another candid shot she had taken of Katya walking ahead of her and pointing up at one of the rides off-camera, excitement exuding from her expression. She locked her phone and tucked it away.

“Sorry, who was following who again?” Katya said then, miming out calculations in the air mockingly.

“Fuck you!” Trixie shrieked bashfully as she shoved Katya.

Regaining composure, the shorter woman returned to Trixie’s side, wrapping her arm around her waist and pulling her close as they fell into step. As they neared the car pick-up point, Katya calling an Uber, Trixie sent a text to Blair and thanked her again for the passes, letting her know they were heading out. 

  
  
  


The two didn’t talk much once they entered the car, looking out their respective windows and taking in the colours of the sky as the sun set. A few minutes into the ride, however, Katya reached over, finding Trixie’s hand and pulling it to her lap. She held it there for a moment, tracing her thumb along Trixie’s, before moving to open the taller blonde’s manicured hand, turning it upward, and drawing circles on her palm with the tip of her middle finger. Trixie’s eyes fell closed as Katya traced along each of her fingers, and eventually up and down her forearm, where she left a trail of goosebumps in her wake. 

When the Uber stopped outside Katya’s apartment for its first of the two stops, the women sat there in continued silence, Katya returning Trixie’s hand to her own lap where it fell limp, and the tension in the back of the car was palpable. Trixie wanted so badly to tell Katya to stay in the car and just come back to her place, but the 1% of logic that remained in her brain reminded her that she had plans the next day that required her to be well rested. Katya’s heavy lidded eyes met Trixie’s, and she was the first to break the silence. 

“You really took me to the Bates motel”.

“Yeah well, I was just hoping to supply Norman with his next victim but here we are,” Trixie joked back, holding Katya’s eye contact and challenging her to make the next move.

Katya shook her head and giggled as she pulled Trixie into a tight hug. Trixie felt Katya’s hot breath at her ear and felt the hair on her arms raise, a shiver ran down her spine. 

The Uber driver interrupted then, asking Trixie to confirm her address as the next drop off point, and she let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, relaying the address to her apartment to him. As Katya pulled back slowly from the hug the pair made eye contact and simultaneously leaned in, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. Trixie’s heart fluttered in her chest at feeling Katya's soft lips on her own for the second time today. 

They smiled at each other and Katya squeezeTrixie’s thigh, winking at Trixie as she opened the door and climbed out of the back seat.

“Today was a lot of fun -- see you soon, Trixie Rose.”

Trixie smiled back at Katya earnestly, cheeks deepening into a blush she was starting to think would become permanent.

“See you soon, Yekaterina Rose.”

Katya laughed as she shut the car door, and Trixie was off to her apartment, Katya waving after the car until it turned the corner.


	4. Dress You Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays and stay safe :)

Dress You Up

Trixie woke up exhausted Sunday morning. After the Uber dropped her off, only asking a few invasive questions about how Trixie and Katya knew each other, Trixie had texted Katya to let her know she had arrived safe before heading to bed -- only to then end up texting her until the early hours of the morning.

She had plans with Bob and Shea in the morning; they were taking a road trip down to San Diego where they planned to visit some local galleries and Hotel Del Coronado. Shea had discovered the film Some Like It Hot the previous month, and upon learning that the hotel from the film was located only a short road trip away, the trio had immediately searched for a date to go see it for themselves.

Trixie threw her hair up into a messy bun, not wanting to fuss with it after barely 4 hours of sleep, and tossed on some mascara and a soft gloss for good measure. A natural look today, fuck it. She sighed at her reflection, tossing some blush and concealer in her purse before grabbing her keys, knowing she would otherwise regret it later when she was awake enough to want to take pictures, and self-aware enough to want to look alive in said pictures.

“Late night, Mattel?” Shea inquired, taking in Trixie’s tired appearance as she climbed into the back of Shea’s car.

“Is that your way of saying I look like shit?” Trixie retorted as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Bob in a hug from behind where he was positioned in the passenger seat. “Hello Robert, It’s been way too long since we hung out.”

“Don’t you Robert me, Beatrice!”

“Okay fine, Bobert then -- have you missed me?” Trixie asked chirpily.

“Like a hole in the head!”

“Bob!” Trixie whined.

“Trixie!” Bob replied in the same tone.

“So Mattel,” Shea started again, smirking slightly in the rearview mirror, “you didn’t answer my question -- up late with the Russian last night? Did she just sneak out the window?”

“I’ll have you know I spent last night alone in my house, all by myself... alone,” Trixie replied to the pair in the front seats who were turned to face her, eyebrows raised knowingly. “We did stay up texting until like, 4am though.”

“There it is!” Shea faced forwards again, Bob chuckling beside her as she turned the key in the ignition. “Also, you don’t look like shit.” She put the car in drive and the three friends set off.

Trixie unlocked her phone and connected it to the bluetooth in Shea’s car, opening Spotify and locating a playlist that she had made for the trip earlier in the week, then pressed shuffle. Years prior, they had come to an agreement that in all of their roadtrips; Shea would drive, seeing as she enjoyed it more than Bob, and Trixie couldn’t drive -- Bob would get to ride shotgun if Trixie got to control the music. Their agreement had eventually come with an added rule that Trixie must ensure all future road trip playlists catered to the three of them after they found themselves listening to nonstop Dolly Parton for the entire almost two hour drive to Palm Springs.

“So how are things going with Katya?” Bob asked, still facing Trixie.

“They’re good!” Trixie replied, adjusting the volume of the music so she could better hear her friend.

“That’s all?”

“What! They’re good, what do you want me to say?”

“Usually we can’t get you to shut up for 2 seconds and now all you’ve got to say is two words?”

“Oh my god, the way you’re yelling at me when I’m just trying to listen to Madonna with my friend Shea,” Trixie whined playfully, pulling her hair out from the bun and fixing it into a high pony. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything!”

Trixie launched into a story recounting her dates with Katya; she had spoken to Shea briefly about them via text but had yet neglected to tell Bob anything about Katya past the details of their initial meeting. It felt good to be sharing stories of her recent dating life with her friends in person, and Trixie realised just how long it had been since the three of them had spent quality time together.

Between discussing Trixie’s dating life and singing along to the road trip playlist, the journey passed by quickly. Trixie applied some concealer and a generous amount of blush in the back seat and catching a glimpse of her reflection in the rearview mirror she was happy to find that she looked pretty cute. They arrived in San Diego around midday, Shea located a parking lot near the Museum of Art and they walked towards the building while discussing which exhibits they were most excited to see. Once inside they collected a free map of the museum’s layout, which Trixie insisted would allow for the best use of their time and would ensure they didn’t miss anything notable.

The three made their way around the various rooms, viewing art pieces that only Shea had any real understanding of.

Passing through a room filled with renaissance art pieces, Trixie pointed at a painting of a small baby with a grossly oversized head. “Hey Bob, that’s you,” she remarked casually.

Bob scoffed, searching the walls high and low until his eyes fell on a painting of a misshapen cherub, “yeah well that’s you, bitch.”

“Holy shit, are you two literally 12 years old?” Shea replied, rolling her eyes at her friends who had stray behind her, giggling to themselves. Several minutes later when positioned in front of a painting of two pigs, she added, “that’s y’all” and the three friends erupted into a chorus of laughter which drew irritated looks from other museum visitors.

They fell into a rhythm passing through the building, playing games such as ‘if you had to display any of these paintings in your house which would it be’ or ‘which of these sculptures seems the most homophobic to you?’ until they had taken in every exhibit.

Returning to the car, they took their usual positions, with Shea and Bob in the front and Trixie in the back, and then set off towards Hotel Del Coronado. Trixie resumed the playlist and instantly the car filled with the opening beats of 9 to 5. Bob and Shea groaned, but before long the three friends were singing happily to the Dolly song as they crossed the Coronado Bridge. Once on Coronado Island they searched for a place to park, wanting to avoid the high parking fees at the hotel itself, and as if by fate found free parking right beside a local ice cream parlour. Trixie immediately skipped her way inside where she purchased a single scoop of butterscotch ice cream in a waffle cone before they began walking towards the hotel.

“You do realise that all of that ice cream is going to cause your teeth to fall out one day right?” Bob joked.

“Bitch, I’m from Wisconsin, at 25 just be glad the gang’s all still here,” Trixie retorted, flashing a big toothy grin towards Bob and Shea before turning her attention to the ice cream cone.

“She’s going to be toothless by the time she turns 30,” Shea said solemnly to Bob and he nodded in agreement.

“And it’ll be worth it! Yall are just haters.” The three giggled together as they continued walking towards their destination.

Rounding a corner a few blocks down, they saw the grand hotel that stood before them. The white walls and red brick roof were stunning, Trixie thought, particularly when paired with the white sandy beach which sat behind it, and they wasted no time before starting an amateur photoshoot. Shea was determined to get some pictures of her outfit -- one of her own creations -- and felt that the beachfront hotel would provide the perfect backdrop.

“We actually got here at the perfect time, the lighting is great!” Trixie stated as she took Shea’s phone, which was already open on the camera app. Scrunching up her face, Trixie whined, “ugh I every time I remember you have an android I have to physically fight the urge to unfriend you.”

Shea was already beginning to pose, the sunlight kissing her skin in a way that had her glowing, her naturally modelesque features even further enhanced in the afternoon light. “There’s a reason we’re taking pictures on my android and not your iPhone, now less bitching and more taking pictures of my beautiful face,” she snapped playfully before returning her face to a powerful pout.

Once Shea was satisfied with the multitude of pictures Trixie had taken of her, Bob stepped in for his shot in front of the camera, and following him was Trixie.

“Trixie you look so cute!” Shea squealed as Trixie placed one hand on her hip and raised the other in a peace sign.

“Thanks!” Trixie replied, her smile beaming as they continued taking photos. She was really grateful for this day with her friends, and felt her heart warm as she thought about telling Katya all about it later. All day she had been conscious to not talk about Katya too often, aware that she hadn’t gotten to spend time with Bob and Shea as a trio in a while and not wanting to take over conversation with an ongoing babble about the quirky blonde she couldn't seem to get off her mind these days.

Following on from their individual photoshoots, the friends took some selfies together and then propped Shea’s phone up on a nearby ledge. Setting it to self timer they posed together in increasingly ridiculous poses, for the final one Shea and Bob lifting Trixie up unexpectedly with Bob taking her upper body and Shea her legs. Trixie scream-laughed as the picture took, capturing the candid moment between them before Shea and Bob deposited the blonde back onto the ground.

Before returning home they stopped for food at a quaint bistro, each having grown increasingly hungry over the course of the day but remaining too distracted to notice. Now that the peak of the day had passed, their stomachs rumbled as they browsed the menu, Trixie trying to choose between the 3 and a half vegetarian options the restaurant provided, eventually deciding on a cheddar broccoli soup and salad meal.

“Hey can you send me the pictures?” Trixie asked Shea as Bob filled each of their glasses with water from a jug at the centre of the table.

“Of course!” Shea confirmed as she selected all of the photos that included Trixie as well as a couple of individual shots of herself so she could “bless Trixie’s phone with her beauty”, and sent them over to her friend.

Trixie swiped through them, smiling as she went, eventually trying to pick one to send to Katya.

“You should send the one of you in front of the beach when the wind caught your hair -- that looked super deliberate, really high fashion” Shea said, knowing her friend too well.

“Hmm?” Trixie asked, looking up from her phone.

“To Katya,” She confirmed, “you should send that one, it’s really pretty. They all are because you look like fucking Malibu Barbie all the time but I think your girl would really like that one.”

Trixie blushed then, though not sure if it was at how predictable she was, or the fact that Shea had referred to Katya as her girl. Glancing back down at her phone, she decided to take her friend’s advice - she did look great in that picture.

“Also, you should bring her to my party next weekend,” Shea began. “Katya I mean. We want to meet her!”

“Yes!” Bob chimed in.

“Really?” Trixie asked, unable to keep her smile from beaming back at her friends.

Yes! We want to meet this girl!”

“That would be great actually, I’ll ask her tonight!” Trixie smiled as she sent off the picture Shea had suggested to Katya. Quickly, she received a reply which simply consisted of multiple flame emojis and Trixie’s face lit up despite herself.

Noticing Trixie smiling goofily at her phone, Shea teased. “Tell Katya we say hi!” Trixie smiled and rolled her eyes, putting her phone away just in time for their food arriving.

\--

They arrived back in the city that night later than expected, sun down by the time Shea dropped Trixie back to her apartment; once Trixie was settled on her couch in her pajamas, she put water in the kettle for tea, dialing Katya as the water boiled.

“Hello hi, Barbie Rose, did you have fun today with people who aren’t me?” Katya chattered away on the other end of the call.

“Hi! Yeah it was fun, we went to this hotel from a movie Shea loves, it was really beautiful!”

“Another famous hotel, huh? That where you bring all the women in your life?”

“Honestly, between doing Bates with you and then this one today I’m not sure when I became a famous hotel tour guide, but I’ll have to start charging.”

“Well Trix, sometimes we don’t get to choose our path in life, sometimes our path chooses us -- we could go see the murder house from American Horror Story next to keep with your brand, y’know, build your portfolio,” Katya joked.

“Well, my brand is hotels, so you’re already tarnishing my name. Also that may be the house from American Horror Story to you but to me it is the house from that one episode of Buffy… we are not the same.”

“You’re right, I’m so sorry I don’t know what I was thinking!” Katya laughed. “But I’m glad you had fun today, Trix!”

“Yeah! It was great -- have you been to San Diego before?”

“No I haven’t! A friend of mine visited a few years back and got pictures with a bunch of sea lions though, it seems like a fun place!”

“Yeah I really like it, I’ve been a couple times now -- we should go sometime if you want.”

“I’m down! How far is the drive-ish?”

“Like two hours-ish? But we’d have to bus which might be longer if there’s stops or anything, one sec...” Trixie trailed off, looking for her laptop to search what potential bus services from LA to San Diego looked like, excited to plan despite the fact that this trip probably wasn’t even happening anytime soon.

“Wait why would we -- do you prefer bussing to taking a car down?” Katya asked, as Trixie got Google open, confusion evident in her tone.

“God no, I just can’t drive, hold on--” she elaborated as she searched Greyhound for rates and schedules.

“I can!”

“You can?” Trixie shut her laptop, refocusing her attention on the woman on the other line incredulously.

“Yeah girl, not all of us are bottom bitches like you, I got my license when I was 17 -- driving since I was 15 though, 6 if you count the Barbie Jeep I got for my birthday at the time.”

“Oh I had no idea! Nice -- also I always wanted one of those, never got one -- very jealous.”

“Never too late! You could get one now!”

“Imagine”

“You could!”

“Just me riding a Barbie Jeep around my apartment,” Trixie giggled, looking around her space and imagining the pink vehicle doing laps around her couch.

“Or around the city! Fuck it -- take it to the streets, beep beep bitches, hiiii” Katya said, her voice going up about 3 octaves as she drew out the ‘i’ in hi, and Trixie burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, me--” Trixie struggled to get our her words, a fit of giggles threatening to take over, “--me on my Barbie Jeep pulling up to the Gelson’s to buy some Red Bull, imagine--”

Trixie and Katya wheezed simultaneously, the thought of a parking space being occupied by a child’s toy getting the best of them, and they carried on both making add-on jokes as they cackled for minutes to follow.

Catching her breath eventually, Trixie continued, “Oh my god, this is so stupid, okay --anyways! Very excited for the trip, can’t wait to see you reunite with your family.”

Katya paused for a second, then asked, “my family?”

“Yeah, the sea lions--,” Trixie started, continuing when she heard Katya start laughing again on the other end, “aren’t they Zamolodchikova’s? The resemblance between you is uncanny, I just thought --”

“Fuck you, Mattel! I was so confused. Also! Can I say something? I am very surprised you’ve gotten near those things -- aren’t you like, scared of sea creatures and shit? You almost pissed yourself on that shark ride yesterday.”

“Yes well that is different, these guys just sit there, they don’t jump out at you or do anything scary like on the ride.”

“Ah yes the theme park variety of sea creature does happen to be the most dangerous and scary of all the types” Katya agreed.

“Yes, obviously. Also! You just reminded me actually, speaking of scary, what’re you doing next week?”

“For Halloween?”

“Yeah! On Friday evening.”

“No plans yet, why?”

“So!” Trixie started, excitement evident in her voice. “My friend Shea is throwing a costume party… would you want to come with me? she asked hopefully.

“I’d love to!” Katya replied, her enthusiasm matching Trixie’s. “I love halloween! Are you sure she won’t mind if I come?”

“Yeah of course! It was actually her idea; I was like ‘ugh Shea, do we really have to invite Katya?’ and she was all like ‘yes Trixie, it would be a nice thing to do’”

Katya laughed, “oh and you’re always looking for nice things to do for people right?”

“Oh totally! But in all seriousness, she specifically said I could invite you. I think she’s very curious about you.”

“Oh? Were you talking about me with your friends today, Blondie?” Katya teased.

“All bad things, don't worry!” Trixie replied, earning another laugh from Katya.

The two women continued their conversation for a short while before turning in for the night early, Katya having her first day at Atomic the next day and Trixie tired from her trip.

In the morning, Trixie sent Katya a good luck text, hoping Katya wasn’t feeling too nervous, and throughout the morning when there were no customers around, would check her phone to see if Katya had yet replied. At lunch time, she settled in at the small table in the break room to eat a rather sad looking cheese sandwich when her phone buzzed with a new text:

_Katya: hey trixers! sorry I didn’t reply this morning, I was rushing around scared that I was going to be late (spoiler alert, I was, but it was fine) first day is going well! I’m on lunch with some of my colleagues just now and they all seem nice._

_Trixie: I’m glad it’s going well! How about I call you after work and you can tell me all about it all?_

_Katya: Sure thing, Tamara!_

_Katya: Okay I should probably go now and do some breakroom socialising I guess… Not that I wouldn’t rather be talking to you but I should try to make at least one other friend on the west coast._

_Trixie: True_

_Trixie: I know it might be hard to stop texting me since you’re like totally obsessed with me but I believe in you! Can’t have your new coworkers thinking you are one of those people who are married to their phone._

_Katya: I’ll tell them that I’ve got a hot, leggy, blonde on the other end of the phone and I’m sure they’ll understand!_

_Katya: I’ll talk to you after work, trix. Have a good shift!_

_Trixie: You too, Kat!_

After her shift had drawn to a close later that day, Trixie texted Katya asking if she wanted to come over for dinner rather than just talk on the phone. Katya replied with an enthusiastic “yes!” and an array of emojis, none of which made sense in the context of the text, and Trixie arranged that they would meet for about 6:30pm.  
As soon as Trixie arrived home from work, she began throwing ingredients together to create a pasta sauce. Adding some penne into a large pot of boiling water, she turned the oven to 350F to preheat for the garlic bread which she planned to pile far too much shredded cheese on top of, when her door buzzed indicating Katya was outside. When Trixie answered, Katya greeted her with a cheshire-like smile, extending a hand out towards Trixie and presenting her with a carrier bag. Trixie looked at Katya quizzically as she received the awaiting bag; looking inside she found a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream and immediately moaned, hugging the bag to her chest.

“For dessert!” Katya informed Trixie, as she followed Trixie past the door frame into her space, shutting the door behind her.

“Oh my god you are an angel on earth,” Trixie replied, beaming back at the shorter woman before putting the ice cream in the freezer. “Also hi,”she continued, pressing a soft kiss to Katya’s lips before returning to the stove to stir the pasta sauce she had just begun to whip up.

Katya rested her chin atop Trixie’s shoulder, looking at the concoction on the stove, and brought her lips to Trixie’s ear.

“Hi,” she whispered, smiling against Trixie’s profile before turning to the untouched block of cheese which lay next to a grater on the counter. “Want me to grate the cheese?”

Trixie smiled softly, nodding in response. “Hi -- ugh that would be great, thanks Katya!”

Moving to pick up the grater, Katya turned back to Trixie, a smile playing on her lips. “It really would be grate, wouldn’t it?” she said, putting emphasis on her pun as she started her task. “It’s so great to grate, don’t you think Trixie?”

“I think that you are very grating,” Trixie sing-songed back without pause, fighting against the smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Hey!” Katya laughed, taking a few strands of freshly grated cheese from her growing mountain and throwing them at Trixie, who giggled as she deflected them.

“How much cheese do you need by the way?” Katya asked

“Just like, a whole lot of cheese -- however much you think we’ll need plus a bit more.”

“Gotcha,”Katya replied, turning her attention back to helping out with meal preparation; they worked side by side as Trixie added the final ingredients to her pasta sauce, then finally tossing the pasta noodles in the pot to boil.

When it came to final touches, Trixie doubled up on the cheese Katya laid atop the garlic bread going into the oven. She then continued to stir the sauce as Katya took a seat at the table, and they conversed back and forth about Katya’s new job.

Trixie learned that the managers Katya reported to at Atomic magazine were allowing Katya a lot of autonomy over her role. The magazine covered numerous topics including makeup, relationships, sport, travel and many things in between, so as long as her pieces were written with a queer womxn’s POV, within their expansive range of topics, Katya could decide what she chose to write about herself. Further, she was being given the freedom to more or less pick her own hours as well, so long as deadlines were met. Katya’s manager, Raja, had informed her that she could choose to work from home for the most part if she preferred, but she just had to be in the office on Monday and Thursday mornings for team meetings.

“I’ll probably go in most of the weekdays at first though just to get to know everyone? But after that I’ll probably find a spot in my place to put a standing desk so I can work from home most of the time,” Katya explained.

“Yeah that’s fair, you wanna go to school a couple years before you start homeschooling, get socialized so you don’t go full Nell.”

“Exactly!”

Overall it seemed like the ideal job for Katya, who appeared to be ecstatic as she told Trixie more details about the colleagues she’d met today and the fact she would probably be allowed to write about gymnasts, figure skaters, and “the cultural impact of two Russian fake lesbian pop stars”, a descripton she learned Katya attributed to a band called ‘TaTu’. Trixie nodded along enthusiastically and asked questions at appropriate times, checking herself not to interrupt, because she knew she was bad for that. She grabbed two bowls and filled them with pasta and sauce, setting one in front of Katya and the other down for herself, then placed a basket of garlic bread in the centre of the table.

“Want a drink?” Trixie asked, turning to the fridge.

“Sure! Whatcha got?”

“So,” Trixie started, “our drink specials tonight appear to be Water From the Sink or Milk From My House,” Trixie informed Katya.

“The water sounds exquisite, I hear fresh tap water compliments pasta just swimmingly.”

“That was absolutely the right answer -- fuck people who drink milk,” Trixie jested as she poured herself and Katya a glass of water each from her filter, re-filling and returning it to the fridge before taking a seat at the table.

“Fuck ‘em!” Katya agreed.

They ate in comfortable silence for a minute, hold Katya making humming noises of approval when she first tasted the homemade pasta sauce, and the soft lull of acoustic folk music which spilled out of Trixie’s bluetooth speaker.

“This pasta is great Trix -- the sauce is delicious.”

“Thank you! It’s originally my grandpa’s recipe, but I added a pinch of cyanide to yours for the occasion,” Trixie said, smiling sweetly toward Katya.

“Oh that’s why I’m feeling light-headed! I thought it was because you’re so beautiful that looking at you was overwhelming my nervous system,” Katya retorted, winking at Trixie without missing a beat. “But seriously, Trixie, you’re quite the chef!” Katya said approvingly once half her bowl had been cleared.

“Oh, thank you,” Trixie replied bashfully, her cheeks turning a warm crimson at the compliment. “It’s nothing though honestly, pasta is pretty easy.”

“Not for me! I can't cook for shit. Probably burn ice if I could.”

“Katya! I’m sure you could manage pasta, if you use a store-bought sauce it’s literally just adding noodles to boiling water!”

“Nope, I’m hopeless! I mean I could probably learn if I tried but last time I attempted to make pasta I left it cooking and totally forgot about it… came back 40 minutes later to find it scorched to the bottom of the pot.”

“Girl I’m about to tell you something that will change your life… There’s this thing on your phone called an alarm and you can use it to prevent yourself from forgetting to do things like checking on your pasta or waking up in the morning,” Trixie said sincerely.

Grabbing at Trixie’s arm briefly, Katya gasped exaggeratedly. “How did I ever remember that waking up was something I needed to do without this nifty sounding device?” she replied, fumbling her phone between her hands comically and balancing it atop her head. The two laughed, Trixie tossing the phone onto a nearby couch cushion, and the pair continued on with their pasta and garlic bread until both of their bowls were cleared.

After finishing their meal, Katya insisted on doing the dishes because Trixie had cooked -- even after Trixie had assured her that wasn’t necessarily -- and as Katya finished with the cutlery, Trixie scooped some ice cream into a bowl for each of them which they ate on the couch.

“I never asked earlier, how was your day at work?” Katya asked Trixie as Mean Girls played quietly on the television in the background.

“It was fine, just a standard day of the customer always being right. One woman in particular was super fired up about claiming she deserved a discount for reasons she couldn’t quite explain and she made Brianna cry.”

“Shit, people are assholes.”

“Yeah but she got to meet no-nonsense assistant manager Mattel who told her plainly that her business was not wanted in our store and she should leave immediately before security was called.”

“Damn no-nonsense assistant manager Matter sounds hot, I’d like to meet her someday… is she single?”

Trixie blushed -- a reaction she was growing increasingly accustomed to in the presence of the russian -- and replied, “she’s actually married to the job -- eats, sleeps, and breathes moderately priced fashion and telling Patties with ugly haircuts to shove it.,” gathering a laugh from Katya.

The movie continued to play in the background, the two women only partly paying attention as they sat shoulder to shoulder chatting with one another and Katya showing Trixie some funny videos on her phone. Some time later, Trixie tuned back into the film during a scene centering a Halloween party, upon hearing one of the main characters, clad in lingerie and a set of ears, explaining her costume -- “I’m a mouse, duh!”

“--You know I’ve dressed up as a mouse three times for halloween in the past,” Trixie stated, turning to face Katya.

Katya looked up from her phone. “Three?”

“Three.”

“That’s pretty gay Trixie!”

“How is that gay?”

“Umm, everyone knows mice are gay!” Katya exclaimed, “It’s a vibe -- mice are gay, rats are gay, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels… all rodents really. And frogs.”

“Damn I must have missed all that when I was doing my intro to gay classes!”

“Truly! But real talk, a mouse is a kind of lame halloween costume, you have to do better than that this year if I’m to escort you to the party on Saturday!”

“Rude!” Trixie scoffed, “Also, umm, mice are actually gay, Katya, I’m not sure if you knew that, so that’s actually homophobic of you. Also, I was thinking it might be cool to do a themed costume together! If you wanted to?”

“Oh absolutely, yes.”

“Great, so I was thinking I would be a mouse and you would be cheese,” Trixie said, and Katya burst out laughing, Trixie joining immediately thereafter, at her joke suggestion.

They continued on to discuss potential halloween costume ideas for Friday night, agreeing that they wanted to do something that would be both iconic, clever, worthy of an Instagram upload, and most importantly, not fucking stupid. Trixie had seen enough straight people go as a hotdog and a bun, and she was not gonna be the one.

“Okay so what about Barbie and Ken?” Trixie started.

“Oh? And I’m assuming you are going to be Ken, hmm?” Katya interrupted.

“Well… I thought, you’d want to be Ken?” Trixie replied innocently, already knowing that her suggestion wasn’t going to be successful.

“I really think we could pull off Norman and Norma Bates? Norman in his Norma drag so we both get to wear a dress?” Katya suggested, sounding far more serious than Trixie hoped she was being.

Knowing she was not going to agree to go as either the villain from Psycho or his mother Trixie replied, “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response but I would like to put forward Princess Peach and Daisy?” When Katya didn’t look convinced she added, “Or Velma and Daphne?”

“What about Norman Bates and the lady he kills in the shower… that way you could just go wearing a towel,” Katya suggested, wiggling her eyebrows up and down which made Trixie giggle.

Trixie was considering any way she could convince Katya to agree to a costume where she got to dress as Barbie, a costume she had surprisingly never done before, when Katya made her next suggestion.

“Wait! What about Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn?”

“Ooh -- oh I like that, yes! I could wear a red wig!” Trixie agreed enthusiastically. “I was just about to suggest like, tin man and Dorothy or like a disco ball or something, because I found this sexy silver gown recently but I am so into this Harley and Poison idea.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing you in a sexy gown though, you could still wear it.”

“Nah that wouldn’t work with the look.”

“Sure it would!”

“A red wig and a silver dress?”

“Yeah! Why not?”

“I don’t think.”

“Well I do think, but I guess maybe not for Poison Ivy… maybe you could go as like a sexy robocop instead or something?” Katya suggested, raising her eyebrows playfully.

“That is a movie I have never seen nor have any intention of ever watching.”

“That’s very fair. I don’t think Robocop and Harley Quinn are two characters that are typically paired together anyway, so maybe we should stick to our original plan -- you know one of the other perks of the whole Harley and Poison Ivy idea?” Katya asked teasingly.

“What?”

“Not only do you get the pleasure of seeing my ass in a pair of teeny tiny little booty shorts,” Katya started, “you also get to listen to me talk in my best Harley Quinn Brooklyn accent all night along.”

Trixie had been so instantly focused on the image the start of Katya’s sentence had conjured in her mind that when Katya suddenly added, “A-OK Mr J!” in the aforementioned character’s accent moments later, Trixie jumped, startling out of her explicit thought bubble and replacing it with a bubbling of laughter.

Nothing they had said was particularly funny and yet soon Katya was wheeze-laughing on the couch; at the sight of her, Trixie found herself joining in, eventually both flailing around on the couch as they gripped at one another's arms.

Trixie heard a thud then, looking over to see that Katya had fallen off the couch in the chaos. She rolled onto her stomach and peered over the edge of the couch to see the woman, still softly laughing, rub at her head and rest back onto her elbows, half reclined. Both caught their breath for a moment.

“You okay?” Trixie asked, stifling further giggles.

“I’m fine!” Katya said, smiling wide, seemingly unphased by the fall.

“Did it hurt?” Trixie asked, folding her hands under her chin as she looked at the woman who now sat eye-level to her.

“When I fell from heaven? Just a little.”

“Not that-- I truly can’t stand you.”

“Good thing you’re lying down then, huh?”

“Oh my god--” Trixie reached behind her and grabbed one of the couch cushions, throwing it at Katya, who caught it before it could hit her.

“Cat-like reflexes baby, you can’t take me.”

Trixie reached for the pillow to make a second attempt, but Katya tossed it aside, reaching out and linking her fingers in Trixie’s outstretched ones, capturing her hand.

“Are you trying to have a homoerotic pillow fight with me, Mattel?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Trixie could feel the energy shift, could feel Katya’s eyes raking up and down her body, where she was now laying on her side, her hips exaggerated and waist dipped against the couch cushions. “What if I was?” she replied, pulling at Katya’s hand towards her, turning to lay on her back and encouraging the woman on the floor to re-join her on the couch.

Katya lifted herself off the floor, perching on the edge of the couch next to Trixie, who only pulled her closer, until she was leaning overtop the tall blonde, one of her hands resting against the back of the couch, the other next to Trixie’s head.

Trixie felt her heart race in her chest and a smile form on her lips as she slid one hand up to Katya’s cheek to tuck the shorter woman’s hair back behind her ear, it having become messed when she was rolling around on the couch. “Hi,” she said, stroking her thumb back and forth over Katya’s high cheekbone for a second.

“Hi.”

Katya swallowed hard and Trixie’s eyes dropped to her lips; they were so full, painted perfectly in a deep red that contrasted her icy eyes, which now looked at Trixie with a darkness to them that hadn’t been there prior.

Bringing her hand from Katya’s cheek to the back of her neck, Trixie pulled Katya close until they were sharing breath, noses brushing against the other’s.

“Thought you couldn’t stand me,” Katya whispered against Trixie’s lips.

“Good thing I’m laying down, then,” Trixie replied, and then Katya’s lips were on hers.

Trixie’s heart was beating so erratically she could practically hear her pulse thumping in her ears as their lips brushed against one another’s, softly at first, then immediately finding a steady rhythm. Trixie reveled in the feeling of Katya’s lips against hers, opening her mouth reflexively to the other woman when she could feel Katya’s tongue brush her lips. The shorter woman began running her hands up and down Trixie’s side, and briefly breaking for breath, Trixie shivered involuntarily when she felt Katya’s hand slipped under her shirt, making contact with her skin. The feeling of Katya’s hands on her body was electric, and Trixie was intoxicated by the feeling.

“Is this okay?” Katya asked, fingers dipping into Trixie’s hips, and Trixie moaned softly, nodding.

“Yes, yeah, it’s good,” she rambled, reconnecting their lips.

Hungry for more, Trixie’s hands were in Katya’s hair, holding her close and deepening the kiss further as each girl’s tongue fought for dominance. Trixie moved to sit up, and Katya retreated accordingly, until they were both sitting upright as the kiss continued, Katya’s hand working toward the clasp on Trixie’s bra. Trixie’s mind was working on overdrive; she wanted to be undressed by Katya, to straddle her and rock slowly back and forth on her thigh, she wanted to feel Katya’s mouth all over her body and to feel Katya’s body against her tongue, wanted to know what Katya would tasted like and what kind of noises she would make. Trixie was becoming more and more worked up, and as Katya’s tongue brushed along the length of her neck to her ear, she moaned openly, pressing her thighs together, it all getting to be too much.

“Fuck, Katya, wait,” she said, and the other woman detached herself from Trixie in an instant.

“Is everything okay?” Katya asked, eyes glossed over, catching her breath.

“Yes! Everything’s amazing -- I just -- if we kept going I don’t think I could stop and I don’t know if we should -- I don’t know. You know? I want to, I just know you have to go home soon cause it’s getting late and we both have work tomorrow but I’ll never want you to leave if we continue,” Trixie rambled.

Katya ran a finger along Trixie’s jawline, smiling softly at her, amused at her ramblings. “That’s totally fine, babe, we don’t have to keep going.”

Trixie exhaled a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and smiled back. She curled into Katya, and they turned back to the movie that had been abandoned, watching as the main character broke her freshly won homecoming crown into pieces to share with the other girls that had been nominated.

“Would you do that? Trixie asked.

“Hm?” Katya asked, distracted as she ran her hands through Trixie’s hair.

“Break your crown and give pieces to the other girls -- if you won, would you?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, easy -- I wouldn’t win the crown. No need to break anything. You?”

“Okay but if you did!”

“Umm, if I did -- I might. If I had friends up there too, maybe. Or if the others really deserved it.”

Wow, miss congeniality, look at you!”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Not a chance. Those other girls could lick my ass, if they voted me winner, mama that crown would be mine. Also,” Trixie continued, pointing to the TV as Janis walked on-screen wearing a purple suit equipped with ruffles, “you.”

“Honestly, yeah.”

They sat in comfortable silence as the finals scenes of the movie played before them, before long the end credits began to roll. Katya pressed the home button on her phone once and the screen lit up, displaying the time as 10:30pm.

“I guess I should think about heading.” Katya said, making no moves to get up from the couch.

Trixie groaned and nestled herself in closer to Katya’s side, holding her tightly.

Katya stroked Trixie’s hair for a minute before pressing a kiss to the top of her head and patting Trixie’s hip, “y’know, the prospect of calling in tomorrow is becoming more and more favourable ”

“I can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind,” Trixie started. “But you’ve just started a new job and I’m already short staffed tomorrow.”

“Ugh you’re right,” Katya agreed.

“Always am, it’s a blessing and a curse.”

“I guess I’ll call an Uber,” Katya replied unenthusiastically, reaching for her phone and opening the Uber app.

Trixie sat herself up, releasing Katya from the hug and allowing her space to stand from the couch. Trixie leaned her head against the back of the couch and watched as Katya made her way to the door and pulled her boots on. As Katya began putting on her jacket, Trixie raised from the couch and walked to meet Katya at the door.

“Thanks again for dinner,” Katya began, pressing a kiss to Trixie’s lips. “I’m so excited for Friday.”

“Yeah?” Trixie replied, smiling earnestly at Katya.

“Yeah! I’ll get everything I need for my costume after my meeting on Wednesday!” Katya said excitedly.

“Can’t wait! I’ll get the things I need on my lunch break early this week, too.”

“Okay cool! See ya later, babe,” Katya said, looking briefly nervous afterward at her use of the pet name.

Trixie smiled back at Katya, who seemed to ease up immediately, “G’night Kat.”

They kissed goodbye, pulling apart reluctantly, then Trixie locked the door behind Katya and made her way to the bathroom, turning the lights off in the living room on her way, to shower and prepare for bed.

\--

Trixie was so excited for the party that it was all she could think about for the rest of the week. On Thursday Trixie texted Katya to confirm that she had purchased the final items she needed for her costume, wanting to check in on Katya’s progress and ensure that she was going to have her costume ready in time.

_Katya: My costume is all good to go too, Trixibal Lecter!_

_Katya: Oh and just a warning… I’m going to be looking irresistibly sexy in my costume! Just in case you need to prepare yourself for the sheer display of beauty and femininity I’m going to be displaying!_

_Trixie: Humble!_

_Katya: I’m just saying, if you wanted to bring a mop, I would understand._

_Trixie: Oh my god -- is it too late to uninvite you?_

_Katya: Yes :)_

_Katya: Also I decided to buy myself a car as a reward for getting the job at Atomic so I can pick you up and drive us to the party?_

_Trixie: Omg you bought a car?? Congratulations that’s very exciting!_

_Katya: Thanks! Very excited to be driving again but not looking forward to the LA traffic._

_Trixie: Yeah the traffic sucks here, that’s the reason I bike everywhere… Well that and also because I’m a fitness legend._

_Katya: Trixie, please, we both know you bike everywhere because you’re a virgin who can’t drive._

_Trixie: Do not use a quote from my number one film of all time against me Katya Zamolodchikova!_

_Katya: Clueless is your number one film of all time? My little sister loves that film._

_Trixie: Yes well it’s very popular amongst us young folks, something I guess you can’t understand._

_Katya: Hey!!_

_Katya: At this rate you’ll be biking to the party, Tracy!_

_Trixie: Biking is the appropriate transportation to get to work, but Birding is the appropriate transportation to get to a party_

_Katya: What the fuck is Birding?_

_Trixie: Oh honey you’ve got a big storm comin…_

_Trixie: Have you seen those electric scooters on the streets?_

_Katya: Oui_

_Trixie: Those are birds! They are my favourite thing._

_Katya: I’m glad you’ve found yourself alternative travel arrangements then._

_Trixie: :(_

_Katya: Okay but in all seriousness what time should I pick you up on Friday?_

_Trixie: Let’s aim to be at the party around 9? what if you come by between like 8 and 8:30?_

_Katya: Perfect!_

_Trixie: And you’re sure you don’t mind being the designated driver?_

_Katya: Not at all, honestly I’m not a big drinker anyway… usually just a glass of wine or a couple of beers on special occasions. That is unless I’m feeling particularly jazzy._

_Trixie: Okay then that’s perfect! Thanks Kat, see you tomorrow :)_

_Katya: Not if I see you first!!!_

_Trixie: Omg_

_Trixie: BYE_

_Katya: :D_

_Trixie: :)_

\--

On Friday evening Katya had texted Trixie asking if they still aimed to arrive at Shea’s for 9pm, which Trixie confirmed. By 8pm, Trixie had fixed her long hair back into a wig cap and pulled on a voluminous red wig. After she was comfortable and assured that the wig was secured on her head, she attached some ivy leaf hair clips. Fastening an ivy leaf bracelet to both wrists as finishing touches, she walked through to her bedroom and stepped into her black heels before regarding herself in her full length mirror. Her makeup was flawless with green eyeshadow, black eyeliner, large false lashes and some glitter to complete the look. The costume, adorned with ivy leaves, highlighted every curve of her perfect hourglass figure. She knew her body looked great, her waist cinched in tight to exaggerate her hips as well as her breasts, which were practically spilling out of the corseted bodysuit she wore. Her thick legs, clad in green tights, looked particularly long in the black heels she paired, and Trixie couldn’t wait for Katya to see her. She stepped out of her heels again, happy with how they complimented the overall outfit and returned to the bathroom to spray herself with her favourite perfume.

While she waited for Katya she took some pictures of herself; feeling herself completely in the finished look, she switched between pouts and smirks as she took a variety of photos, then plugged her phone in to charge, packing her purse with red lipstick, lash glue, some glitter, and her wallet.

Katya arrived at 8:30pm and when Trixie opened the door and took in the sight of her Harley Quinn costume for the first time, she felt like she was going to have a heart attack and die. Katya’s hair was tied into high pigtails and she had applied temporary pink dye into the ends of one, blue into the ends of the other respectively. The pink and blue theme continued into her eyeshadow and a black heart had been painted below her right eye. Her perfect plump lips were coloured blood red, and Trixie immediately wanted them on her own. Katya wore a tight, cropped red and white baseball style top with ‘daddy’s lil monster’ printed across the front paired with the tiniest little pair of red and blue spandex shorts that caused Trixie’s brain to fully malfunction. She had completed the look with fishnet stockings and her black Doc Martens.

“Oh wow,” Trixie managed to squeak out despite the fact her mouth had gone completely dry at the sight of Katya.

“Can I come in?” Katya smirked playfully.

“Uh, um yeah of course, yeah come in,” Trixie stumbled over her words, stepping aside to let the shorter woman inside.

Closing the door, she turned to Katya, looking her up and down, her eyes eventually making their way up to the other woman’s, which were staring back at her unabashedly.

“See something you like?” Katya asked, leaning against the wall, and briefly Trixie considered ditching the party altogether in favour of pulling Katya into her room and ripping her costume off -- or keeping it on. She attempted to regain her composure, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the door, cocking an eyebrow as she noticed it was now Katya’s turn to rake her eyes over Trixie’s figure.

“Do you?” she said, smirk perking up on her lips.

“I do, actually,” Katya returned allusively and Trixie’s smile dropped, a chill running through her, breasts further threatening to spill out of her top as she took in a deep breath, reminding herself she had the entire party to still go to.

Katya walked up to her then, bringing a hand up to Trixie’s neck, running a finger along her jawline. “Trixie, you look incredible,” she said, sounding far softer than she had moments ago.

“Yeah?” Trixie returned, though she knew she agreed. She smiled back at Katya, the tension dropping significantly and being replaced with excitement. She had worked hard at this costume, and she was so glad it turned out.

“The red hair looks stunning on you,” Katya continued, now pulling her fingers through the ends of the curls, watching them bounce back into place.

“Thanks Kat,” Trixie said, blushing behind her already red-blushed cheeks. “You look amazing too.”

“Just for you, Barbie,” Katya said, winking, and again Trixie’s stomach flipped. “Should we go?”

Trixie nodded against her will, still preferring the alternate course of events she had been visualizing since Katya walked in, and excused herself to her bedroom to collect her phone and purse.

Upon arrival they were greeted by Shea who, in true Shea fashion, still managed to look ethereal in her Yzma costume.

“Oh my god, Shea! How?” Trixie gestured enthusiastically towards her. “How is it possible for you to look so good in such a fucking stupid costume?”

“I’d say it took a lot of hard work and effort but it didn’t, I’m just blessed I guess” Shea said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, then laughed and thanked Trixie.

“You look amazing too, Trixie, jesus, your tits are out out tonight!” Shea glanced behind Trixie, smiling as she saw the blonde who trailed her, continuing, “Can’t imagine why...”

Trixie smiled, rolling her eyes as she reached behind her to where Katya was standing and took her hand, bringing her forward so they were standing side by side, “Shea, this is Katya!”

“Katya! It’s so nice to finally meet you -- this one doesn’t shut up about you.” Shea said warmly.

“That’s a lie!” Trixie retorted, a blush rushing to her cheeks.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, thanks for inviting me tonight!” Katya replied, giving Trixie’s hand a squeeze, and smiling widely at Shea.

“Of course, you’re more than welcome! Also I was being serious, she really doesn’t shut up about you, don’t believe her playing-hard-to-get ass.”

“Oh my god,” Trixie interjected as Katya and Shea laughed together.

As more guests arrived and Shea turned her attention to greet them, Trixie took the opportunity to sweep Katya away before Shea could try to embarrass her further.

Trixie turned to the snack table, grabbing a plastic cup of the punch that Shea had prepared and began drinking as she and Katya discussed the other partygoers' costumes, which ones they liked and which ones they thought were lame. Both women agreed that the slim blonde in a ‘sexy daffy duck’ costume had won their make believe prize for best costume.

When Bob arrived, dressed as Freddy Kreuger, Trixie took Katya’s hand and led her over to him. Bob and Katya seemed to hit it off quickly, and soon enough Shea came over to join the conversation.

“What are we talking about?” Shea asked as she joined the small group.

“I was just telling Bob about the day Trixie and I spent at universal studios,” Katya explained

“Oh god I haven’t been there in such a long time, I remember really liking The Mummy roller coaster though,” Shea replied, and Katya agreed that had been one of her favourite rides also.

“The thing about the parks, like Universal and Disney, is that you really need to go to Orlando to get the real experience. Last year--” Bob started before Shea interrupted.

“Yeah Trixie, imagine not taking Katya to Florida! I’m so sorry she just took you to the LA park, Katya… She can be so inconsiderate sometimes,” Shea jested.

“Fuck Florida!” Trixie scoffed. “But yes Bob’s right, it was so rude of me not to fly us out to Florida for our second date!”

“Well! You said it.” Bob replied. “Anyway, Katya, as I was saying before these hoes so rudely interrupted,” Bob started before launching back into a full story Trixie had heard about many moons ago about his one man trip to Florida last year when he and his ex broke up.

Comfortable that Katya was happily talking with Bob, Trixie allowed herself to be grabbed away by Shea to the kitchen to get some more punch, which Trixie suspected was more alcohol than anything else but was delicious nonetheless. Shea wanted the lowdown on everything Katya and Trixie felt overwhelmingly relieved that her friend had decided to accost her rather than Katya herself.

“She really is just as pretty in real life as she is in her Instagram pictures!” Shea exclaimed.

“Like I said!” Trixie retorted, looking out of the kitchen door back towards Katya. “Also, stop stalking her Instagram, that's really weird.”

“It’s a public profile, Trixie!” Shea started, catching Trixie’s gaze as it landed on the woman in the Harley Quinn costume in the other room. “You really like her huh?”

“Yeah, I really like her! She’s pretty and funny and weird and she gives me all these gross warm fuzzy feelings inside, which sounds so blech but it’s true,” Trixie confirmed, waving her arms around frantically, the punch in her cup threatening to slosh out the sides and onto Shea’s kitchen floor.

“Have y’all had sex yet?” Shea asked plainly.

“Shea!” Trixie exclaimed.

“What! Oh, so you’re suddenly bashful?”

“No! Just--” Trixie started, again waving her hands around noncommittally, eventually finding she had no further argument and giving in to the topic. “We almost did on Monday, but I don’t know -- it was just like, after I had been at work all day and I hadn’t gotten a chance to shower yet, and we had just eaten and we had work the next day -- all that, you know? Like that’s fine, but just -- not to be gross and cheesy or whatever -- but I just wanted the first time to not be a quickie before she drove home to her own apartment for the night. So we didn’t.”

“Trixie Mattel, you really do have it bad for her!” Shea teased.

“Oh my god, that’s literally what I’ve been saying! Yes!” Trixie said as she blushed.

“For what it’s worth you can tell she really likes you back, she looks at you like you shit gold or something,” Shea joked and Trixie looked down and shook her head, a soft smile on her lips.

\--

Trixie could feel that she was starting to become pleasantly tipsy when the two women grabbed another cup of punch before returning to the living room where they had left Bob and Katya, Shea peeling off to socialise with some of her other guests.

Bob was laughing openly at something Katya had said when Trixie skipped over to Katya’s side and grabbed her hand. “Hi,” Katya said gently, looking up at the usually golden blonde, current redhead. Trixie smiled down at her, pecked a quick light kiss to her cheek, leaving behind a defined lip print, and the conversation continued.

As the night continued, the music grew louder and the furniture was moved to create space for a ‘dance floor’. During the temporary renovations, Trixie excused herself to the bathroom and on her way back, got stopped by Shea, who handed her a vodka shot and another cup of punch, to chase the bitter taste of the vodka, both of which she downed quickly.

Returning to Katya’s side, Trixie took her hand.

“Will you dance with me?” Trixie asked, pouting down at Katya.

When it appeared like Katya might protest, Trixie batted her lashes a few times and Katya caved; Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn made their way into the small crowd of horror villains, popstars, and tv show characters to dance.

Katya raised the hand she had linked with Trixie’s into the air, encouraging Trixie to spin around, the taller woman did a 360 turn. Linking hands then, the two began swaying and bopping in time with the music. Trixie tossed her head from side to side, feeling blessed that she had secured her wig well enough, and then she leaned into Katya, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman and swaying them from side to side as she laughed.

“I should have warned you beforehand that I’m a really talented dancer!” Katya shouted over the loud music as she wiggled around the dancefloor.

“Oh yeah? When were you planning on showing off those amazing dance skills?” Trixie replied and Katya lifted her arm encouraging her to twirl again, this time Trixie did a one eighty and stepped back, pressing the back of her body into the front of Katya’s.

Katya enveloped her arms around the front of Trixie’s waist from behind and Trixie began to grind her hips backwards into Katya. As she pressed herself back into Katya, Katya began stroking her fingers across Trixie’s stomach over her leotard; Trixie could feel the heat that began building between her legs, and disconnected their bodies to briefly to turn herself around to face Katya. She lifted her hands to the back of Katya’s head and leaned in to kiss her hungrily, the alcohol having lowered all of her inhibitions and patience.

“Get a room, lesbians!” Shea yelled at them from across the dance floor and Trixie, without breaking the kiss, lifted one hand from Katya’s head and extended it out towards Shea, presenting her with the middle finger.

They broke apart from the kiss and Trixie leaned back, looking fuzzily at Katya she smiled with a mischievous glint in her eye, suggesting they go home.

She did a couple final shots with Shea, Bob, and their friend Derrick that had arrived late, clad in an incredible Britney costume, before heading to the door. Katya helped Trixie secure her shoes on, having the coherency and balance to work the clasps of the heels, and they headed out. In the car they secured their seatbelts, and Katya drove off in the direction of Trixie’s apartment.

“Oh my god, I love this song!” Trixie exclaimed as she turned the radio up and began singing along dramatically to I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany, much to Katya’s amusement.

“Running just as fast as we can,” Trixie exclaimed along with the radio, extending her arms out in front of herself. “holding on to one another’s hands,” she turned and grabbed Katya’s hand that was resting on the gearstick. “Trying to get away into the night,” she swung her arms towards the passenger side window, gesturing out into the night, “and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say,” she continued on, finishing the chorus as she shimmied her shoulders and winked at Katya, bobbing her head from side to side in time with the music.

After the song had finished, Trixie reached over to rest her hand on Katya’s thigh, stroking gently up and down and watching Katya’s face as she tried to remain composed and focused on the road.

“Trixie,” she warned.

“Mhm?”

Trixie moved her whole body across the seat towards Katya and started kissing around her ear and down her neck.

Katya sighed, “Trixie if you keep distracting me there’s an extremely high chance I will crash this car, and as much as I love this costume, I don’t want it to be my forever ghost outfit.”

Trixie giggled as she sat back in her seat.

Katya parked on the street and the women held hands as they made their way up to Trixie’s apartment, partly out of choice and partly out of necessity as Trixie slightly staggered along, vision going fuzzy at points. Once inside, Trixie sat on the couch and Katya fetched her a full glass of water, insisting that she drink at least half of it.

Trixie sipped at the glass of water painfully slowly, eyes locked on Katya’s, and lifted her still heel-clad feet to sit across Katya’s lap suggestively.

“Really?” Katya questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“What?” Trixie asked innocently, taking another miniscule sip from the glass.

“Trixie.”

Trixie smirked then, placing the glass on the end table. She wiggled closer towards Katya, and cuddled up to her with her head on the smaller woman’s shoulder.

“May I have a small kiss?” Trixie whispered.

Katya snorted and lowered her lips to Trixie’s, kissing her softly. Trixie sat up, lips still connected, and shifted her legs that had been splayed across Katya’s lap, now placing one on either side of her. She straddled the other woman’s lap, pressing their bodies together as she deepened the kiss. Tixie bit down on Katya’s bottom lip and when Katya hissed in pleasure, she slid her tongue into the other woman’s mouth. They kissed each other greedily, Trixie lowering her hands to Katya’s waist, dipping beneath her shirt and then around her back to unclasp her bra.

“Trixie,” Katya whispered through the kiss.

“Mmmhmm” Trixie mumbled in response.

“We can’t do this, not tonight” Katya said, pulling back from the kiss.

“What? Why not?” Trixie whined, her lips chasing after Katya’s as she looked down at the woman below her, who was removing her now-unhooked bra beneath her shirt, discarding it to the side.

“You’re too drunk Trix, I can’t in good conscience.”

Trixie frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, pressing her breasts together exaggeratedly. “I’m not even that drunk!” she attempted, and her speech slurred, Katya raised an eyebrow pointedly.

Five minutes later Trixie was kneeling over the toilet bowl, hugging the seat as she vomited violently.

“Katya, can you hold my hair back?” Trixie asked quietly as she tearlessly sobbed in between retches.

“Trix it’s a wig, do you wanna just take it off?”

“But I feel so pretty in it, Kat,” Trixie said, pout heavy in her tone though her face was turned toward the toilet bowl.

“Okay, fair, I’ve got it,” Katya replied softly and reassuringly, stroking Trixie’s back softly with one hand, a fist full of red hair held in the other.

Eventually, Trixie’s wig and wig cap were lying discarded on the floor in the corner of the bathroom, and Katya held Trixies blonde curls back out of her face as she lay her head on her arms which remained crossed over the edge of the bowl.

“I’m sorry,” Trixie whimpered.

Katya rubbed her back, “Shh, it’s okay.”

“I probably look terrible right now”

“You couldn’t look terrible even if you tried, Trix” Katya said, lowering her head to press soft kisses along Trixie’s shoulder, and Trixie hummed contentedly before she began retching again, Katya continuing to stroke her back.

Once Trixie was feeling remotely better, her nausea subsiding, she lay down splayed across the cool bathroom tiles with her head in Katya’s lap while Katya stroked her hair.

“I think I’m dying,” Trixie muttered.

“You are not dying, you drama queen,” Katya reassured her through a snicker she had been unable to suppress.

“I can’t believe you’re laughing at a dying woman. Don’t think I won't come back and haunt you,” Trixie said, snuggling further into Katya’s lap.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Katya giggled again. “Do you think you could manage to stand up and brush your teeth now, baby?” she asked kindly.

Trixie nodded slightly and Katya helped her to her feet, handing her her toothbrush. As Trixie brushed her teeth and removed her makeup, Katya fetched her another glass of water which she placed on Trixie’s bedside table. She then selected an oversized t-shirt from Trixie’s assortment of clothes to help her into when she returned to her room.

Although she had sobered up slightly, Trixie stumbled as she entered her bedroom, flopping down onto her bed, and changing into the clothes Katya had pulled. Katya went to the bathroom to remove her makeup, locating the unopened spare toothbrush in the cabinet under the sink and brushing her teeth before returning to Trixie’s room, standing in the doorway.

“Trix, would it be okay if I crashed on your couch tonight? I just want to make sure you’re okay, I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Can you stay in here with me?”

“Trix--”

“Just to sleep, Katya -- I couldn’t feel less sexy if I tried, trust me.”

“Okay, if you’re sure that’s okay,” Katya said as she returned to Trixie’s dresser, locating another oversized shirt for herself. Once she was changed and situated, she climbed under the covers beside Trixie.

Trixie rolled over to face Katya and snuggled in close to her side, Katya cuddling her in close with an arm behind her neck and stroking her arm gently with her other hand.

“Thank you for looking after me tonight, sorry I was such a mess,” Trixie murmured tiredly into Katya’s chest.

“That’s okay, baby. I had a great time, I really liked your friends, thanks for inviting me.”

“They liked you too!” Trixie half slurred half whispered. “Want to know a secret?”

“Always,” Katya affirmed.

“I like you too, as in like-like you.”

Katya laughed softly, pressing a kiss to Trixie’s forehead. “I like-like you too, Trix.”

Trixie smiled and rolled over, Katya taking the position of big spoon, and the two of them drifted off into a comfortable sleep.


End file.
